Unemployment rate is 26th highest

Jay County’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in July, but it remained higher than 60 of the state’s 91 other counties.
According to estimates Indiana Department of Workforce Development released Monday, Jay County’s unemployment rate of 4.7 percent was tied for 26th highest in Indiana.
The local rate went down by 0.1 percentage points last month, mirroring the area trend of slight decreases. But its No. 26 ranking, tied with Benton, Clay, Madison, Pike and Wayne counties, is the worst it has produced in years. It had ranked 29th-highest in June and October, marking a steep decline from when it had the 19th-lowest unemployment rate in October 2014.
Jay County’s rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the statewide average. Indiana’s number dipped to 4.4 percent in July from 4.6 percent in June.
State officials touted an increase in the labor force over the last three years.
“Indiana’s labor force has been trending positively throughout the last three years, which demonstrates confidence among Hoosier jobseekers as they secure gainful employment,” IDWD commissioner Steven J. Braun said in a press release.
“The corresponding contraction of the applicant pool is also increasing employer demand for workers with the right skills and training.”
While Jay County’s comparison to the rest of the state slipped, Adams and Wells counties both finished among the 10 lowest rates in the state again in July. Adams County was tied with Decatur and Hendricks counties for fifth lowest at 3.4 percent, and Wells County came in tied for eighth lowest at 3.5 percent. Only Dubois (3.1), Hamilton (3.2) and Boone and Bartholomew (both 3.3) counties were better.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Blackford County tied for the ninth-highest rate in the state in July at 5.6 percent.
Greene County posted the highest unemployment rate in the state for the second month in a row at 6.8 percent. Fountain and Vermillion counties were next at 6.4 percent.
Area unemployment rates are as follows:
Adams County: 3.4 percent, down 0.4 percentage points, t-fifth lowest.
Blackford County: 5.6 percent, down 0.1 percentage points, t-ninth highest.
Delaware County: 5.2 percent, no change, t-13th highest.
Jay County: 4.7 percent, down 0.1 percentage points, 26th highest.
Randolph County: 4.2 percent, down 0.3 percentage points, t-42nd lowest.
Wells County: 3.5 percent, down 0.3 percentage points, t-eighth lowest.