Jay’s rate falls to 2.9%

Unemployment is back below 3%.

Jay County’s unemployment rate was 2.9% in September according to estimates released Monday by Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

September unemployment claims were also down.

The local unemployment rate was down 0.3 percentage points from August and nearly a full point from the same month last year. It is the second-lowest rate recorded this year, trailing only the 2.7% the county posted in April. It has been below 4% for 12 consecutive months since coming in at 4.1% in September 2020.

Jay County was tied for 40th-lowest in the state, joining Washington, Putnam, Jackson and Carroll counties. It was tied for the 33rd-lowest rate last month.

Meanwhile, Adams and Wells counties both ranked among the 10 lowest unemployment rates in the state. Adams County, which had the lowest rate in Indiana from April through July, came in tied for second with Boone and Hamilton counties this month at 2.1%. Wells County was tied for eighth-lowest with Elkhart, Hendricks, Martin, Steuben and White counties at 2.4%.

Like Jay County, Indiana’s unemployment rate went down in September. It was 3.5% last month compared to 4% in August.

It is lower than neighboring Kentucky 4.3%, Michigan (4.6%), Ohio (5.4%) and Illinois (6.8%). The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.8% in September, down 0.4 percentage points from August.

LaGrange County had the lowest rate in Indiana at 2%. Adams, Boone and Hamilton counties were next at 2.1%, followed by Daviess, Dubois and Union at 2.3%.

Howard County posted the highest rate in the state at 6.7%. County followed at 5.7%. All of the other 90 counties were below 5%.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development numbers also showed fewer than 80 new unemployment claims filed in September. That’s down from 94 in September.

Area rates are as follows:

Adams County: 2.1%, down 0.7 percentage points, t-second lowest

Blackford County: 3.6%, down 0.9 percentage points, t-20th highest

Delaware County: 3.8%, down 1 percentage point, t-12th highest

Jay County: 2.8%, down 0.3 percentage points, t-40th lowest

Randolph County: 3%, down 0.5 percentage points, t-40th highest

Wells County: 2.4%, down 1.4 percentage points, t-eighth lowest