Unemployment drops to 4.8 percent

April was a good month for unemployment rates throughout the state.
Jay County’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.8 percent in April according to estimates Indiana Department of Workforce Development released Monday. That’s down 0.8 percentage points from March, and matches the county’s rate from April 2015.
Unemployment rates were down throughout the state, and each of the five counties contiguous to Jay saw drops of more than half a percentage point. Blackford County had the biggest improvement as its rate dropped by 1.1 percentage points to 5.7 percent.
The state rate matched that of Jay County as it came in at 4.8 percent, down 0.7 percentage points from March. It was at 4.6 percent in April 2015.
“More than 80,000 Hoosiers joined the workforce in the last four months, which doubles Indiana’s labor force growth for all of 2015,” IDWD commissioner Steven J. Braun said in a press release. “Correspondingly, nearly 60,000 more Hoosiers joined the employed ranks in 2016. This suggests Hoosiers are increasingly confident in finding gainful employment.”
Wells County had the lowest unemployment rate in the area, dropping 0.8 percentage points to 3.7 percent. That’s tied with LaGrange County for fifth-lowest in the state, trailing only Hamilton (3.4 percent), Dubois (3.4), Bartholomew (3.5) and Boone (3.6).
Hamilton and Dubois counties also shared the lowest rate in the state in March at 3.9 percent.
Greene and Vermillion counties continued to have the highest rates in the state, both coming in at 7.3 percent in April. Lake County was the next highest at 6.9 percent.
Area unemployment rates are as follows:
Adams County: 4.0 percent, down 0.6 percentage points, t-13th lowest.
Blackford County: 5.7 percent, down 1.1 percentage points, 17th highest.
Delaware County: 5.6 percent, down 0.7 percentage points, 18th highest.
Jay County: 4.8 percent, down 0.8 percentage points, 44th highest.
Randolph County: 5.0 percent, down 0.6 percentage points, t-36th highest.
Wells County: 3.7 percent, down 0.8 percentage points, t-fifth lowest.