Rate drops to 6.8 percent

After seeing a rise in its unemployment rate for the first time in four months in October, Jay County’s number dipped slightly in November.
Jay County posted an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent last month, down by 0.1 percentage points from October, according to estimates released Friday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. It marked the fourth straight month in which the rate was below 7 percent after it had hovered at 8.5 percent early this year.
Among the surrounding counties, Jay was the only county to see its unemployment rate drop in November.
Adams and Wells counties each saw their rates rise, by 0.3 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points respectively, but were still the lowest in the region at 6.3 percent. Blackford County was in the bottom 10 in the state in terms of its unemployment rate, ranking as the ninth-worst at 8.5 percent.
Jay County was on a roller-coaster ride during the first half of 2013, seeing its rate dip to 7.1 percent in April after its spike in January and February. It jumped up again to 8.1 percent in June but has been on a downward trend in the second half of the year.
Its rate of 6.9 percent in August was the lowest in nearly a year, and then it fell even further to a five-year low of 6.3 percent in September.
While Indiana’s jobless rate went up by 0.2 percentage points to 7.2 percent in November, the state has mirrored Jay County in the second half of 2013. After being 8.0 percent or higher for the first seven months of the year, it has been 7.5 percent or lower since August.
Indiana has a lower unemployment rate than all of the adjacent states — Ohio is next at 7.4 percent — and ranked first in the nation in rate of private sector growth in November according to the IDWD numbers. Its 25,300 jobs added during the month mark the largest increase for the state on record.
“I’m very encouraged,” said Indiana Gov. Mike Pence during a visit Friday to Jay County High School. “It’s a real testament to the work ethic of the people of Indiana, to the resilience of the businesses large and small. …
“But we’ve got a long way to go. We’ve still got the better part of a quarter-million people who are out of work. That’s why we’re going to stay bold. We’re going to continue to bring forward ideas that we think are going to build on Indiana’s momentum. But it’s a great way to end a good year in Indiana.”
The six-county region continued to be split, with Jay, Adams and Wells counties all at 6.8 percent unemployment or lower.
Delaware, Randolph and Blackford counties are among the 20 worst in the state at 7.9 percent or higher.
Dubois County led the state with an unemployment rate of 5.2 percent. It was among a group of five counties, along with Knox, Daviess, Warrick and Martin, in southwest Indiana that all finished among the top 10 in the state.
Fayette (Connersville) and Vermillion counties tied for the worst rate at 9.9 percent.
Individual area unemployment rates are as follows:
Adams County: 6.3 percent, up 0.3 percentage points, t-18th lowest.
Blackford County: 8.5 percent, up 0.5 percentage points, ninth highest.
Delaware County: 8.0 percent, up 0.2 percentage points, t-18th highest
Jay County: 6.8 percent, down 0.1 percentage points, t-39th lowest.
Randolph County: 7.9 percent, up 0.3 percentage points, t-21st highest.
Wells County: 6.3 percent, up 0.5 percentage points, t-18th lowest.[[In-content Ad]]