Jay’s rate is down to 3%

Unemployment is back to pre-pandemic levels.

Jay County’s unemployment rate came in at 3% in December according to Indiana Department of Workforce Development estimates released Monday. That’s the lowest since the county had a 2.8% unemployment rate a year earlier.

The local rate was tied for 17th lowest in the state with Montgomery, Johnson, Dubois, Carroll and Benton counties. Adams and Wells counties faired even better, with the former coming in at third lowest at 2.5 percent and the latter tied for 10th lowest at 2.9 percent.

For more than a year, unemployment in Jay County had hovered between 2.5% and 3.5%. Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit. The county’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to 19.9% in April as a result of statewide shutdowns in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19. Unemployment was at 14.3% in May and 9.6% in June and has continued on a steady decline since then.

After coming in at 3.5% in November, the 3% rate in December was its lowest point of 2020.

The state trend was similar, with unemployment peaking at 17 percent in April and declining ever since. Indiana posted an unemployment rate of 4% in December, down from 4.9% in November but up from the 3% mark in December 2019.

Only Daviess and Boone counties were better than Adams County in the December numbers as they tied for the lowest rate in the state at 2.4%.

Lake County posted the highest unemployment rate in Indiana at 6.4% last month.

LaPorte County was next at 5.9%.

Area rates are as follows:

Adams County: 2.5%, down 0.6 percentage points, second lowest.

Blackford County: 4.3%, down 0.6 percentage points, t-13th highest.

Delaware County: 4.3%, down 0.7 percentage point, t-13th highest.

Jay County: 3%, down 0.5 percentage points, t-17th lowest

Randolph County: 3.7%, down 0.7 percentage points, t-37th highest.

Wells County: 2.9%, down 0.7 percentage points, t-10th lowest.