Jay Co. falls to 37th in state

The local unemployment rate was unchanged in July. Its ranked among the state’s 92 counties dropped significantly.

Jay County posted an unemployment rate of 3.4% in July — tied for 37th lowest in the state — according to estimates Indiana Department of Workforce Development released this week. It had been tied for 12th-lowest in Indiana in June.

Initial unemployment claims were also up significantly from June.

Meanwhile, Adams County continued to have the lowest unemployment rate in the state.

Jay County had ranked among the 20 lowest unemployment rates in Indiana for each of the last four months. It was seventh in April at 2.7%, 16th in May and 12th in June and July.

The unemployment rate of 3.4% in July was the same as in June. It was down by 2 percentage points from July 2020, when the state was still in the midst of recovering for rates that skyrocketed during statewide shutdowns during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development numbers also showed 266 new unemployment claims in July. That’s up both from the 76 claims filed in June and the 183 filed in July 2020.

(The high mark for unemployment claims came during April 2020 with 1,253.)

While Jay County slipped in the overall state rankings for unemployment rate, Adams County led Indiana for the third month in a row.

Adams County’s rate of 2.4% was down 0.4 percentage points from June. It marked the fourth straight month that the county has led the state, with LaGrange and Boone counties tied for second at 2.5%. (Jay County was tied for 37th-lowest with Dearborn, DeKalb, Jackson, Wabash and Washington counties.) Wells County also ranked among the best 10 in the state, tied for ninth-lowest at 2.8%.

Like Jay County, Indiana’s unemployment rate in July was unchanged from June at 4.1%. It is lower than neighboring Ohio (5.4%); Michigan (4.8%); Kentucky (4.4%); and Illinois (7.1%).

Lake County had the highest unemployment rate in the state in July at 8%. Howard County was next at 7.8%, while not other county was higher than 5.8%.

Area rates are as follows:

Adams County: 2.4%, down 0.4 percentage points, lowest.

Blackford County: 4.3%, down 0.4 percentage points, t-21st highest.

Delaware County: 4.7%, down 0.6 percentage points, t-11th highest.

Jay County: 3.4%, unchanged, t-37th lowest

Randolph County: 3.6%, down 0.4 percentage points, t-42nd highest.

Wells County: 2.8%, down 0.5 percentage points, t-ninth lowest