Jay rate was 2.6%

Unemployment locally and statewide dipped significantly last month.

According to Indiana Department of Workforce Development estimates released Monday, Jay County had an unemployment rate of 2.6% in April.

The rate dropped by 0.9 percentage points from March. (It was up from the April 2022 mark of 1.9%.)

Local unemployment was below 3% for the first time in 2023. It had been below that mark for 18 consecutive months prior to January. It has not been above 4% since July 2020. (It had spiked to 19.9% in April 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.)

Jay County essentially held its spot in the state rankings as it came in tied with Fulton, Marion and Switzerland counties for the 36th-highest rate in the state. The county was tied for 37th-highest in the previous month.

The state average for April was 2.6%, down from 3.5% in March.

Gibson County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state for the fourth consecutive month, this time sharing the honor at 1.9% along with Boone and Daviess counties. Adams and Wells counties were among the next group tied at 2%.

Howard County posted the highest unemployment rate in the state in April at 4.4%. Lake County was the only other county higher than 3.5% as it came in at 3.9%.

Eighty of Indiana’s 92 counties had rates of 3% or lower.

Area rates are as follows:

Adams County: 2%, down 0.8 percentage points, tied for fourth-lowest

Blackford County: 3.2%, down 1.1 percentage points, tied for sixth-highest

Delaware County: 3%, down 0.9 percentage points, tied for 13th-highest

Jay County: 2.6%, down 0.9 percentage points, tied for 36th-highest

Randolph County: 2.5%, down 1.3 percentage points, tied for 40th-highest

Wells County: 2%, down 1 percentage point, tied for fourth-lowest