Unemployment falls to 3.7 percent

The local unemployment rate is back below 4 percent again.

Jay County posted a 3.7 percent unemployment rate in September according to estimates Indiana Department of Workforce Development released Monday.

The local rate had been below 4 percent for four consecutive months before jumping up to 4.3 percent in August. But it went right back down last month, dipping by 0.6 percentage points. Jay County followed the area trend, which saw each adjacent county’s rate dip by at least 0.3 percentage points. Overall, Indiana’s rate fell by 0.4 percentage points to 3.6 percent.

Adams County continued to be one of the best performers in the state, coming in tied for the fourth-lowest rate with Bartholomew, Decatur and Kosciusko counties at 2.7 percent. The only counties that were better were Elkhart (2.5) and LaGrange and Dubois (both at 2.6).

Vermillion County posted the highest rate in the state for the second month in a row at 5.5 percent. Lake County was next at 5.3 percent, followed by Fayette County at 5 percent.

Delaware had the worst numbers among adjacent counties as it tied for the seventh-highest rate among Indiana’s 92 counties at 4.3 percent.

Area rates are as follows:

Adams County: 2.7 percent, down 0.5 percentage points, t-fourth lowest.

Blackford County: 4.1 percent, down 0.5 percentage points, t-15th highest.

Delaware County: 4.3 percent, down 0.8 percentage points, t-seventh highest.

Jay County: 3.7 percent, down 0.6 percentage points, t-32nd highest.

Randolph County: 4.0 percent, down 0.4 percentage points, t-21st highest.

Wells County: 3.2 percent, down 0.3 percentage points, t-32nd lowest.