Jay Co. rate up to 3.6%

The unemployment rate increased for the second consecutive month.

Jay County’s unemployment rate went up by 0.3 percentage points to 3.6% in June according to estimates the Indiana Department of Workforce Development released on Monday.

The local unemployment rate was tied for the 40th-highest among the state’s 92 counties. It was down 0.4 percentage points over the same month last year.

Jay County’s unemployment rate had dropped from 4.1% in February to 2.7% in April. It has increased each of the last two months with its status compared to the rest of Indiana shifting from 24th-lowest to 40th-highest.

Unemployment rates were up by between 0.3 and 0.5 percentage points throughout the region. The only adjacent county that ranked better than Jay County was Wells County, which came in tied for the third-lowest rate after being tied for the lowest in June. Adams County matched Jay County at 3.6%.

Indiana saw its rate increase by 0.3 percentage points from May to 3.7%. It was down by 0.7 percentage points from the same month last year.

Union County, which along with Daviess County tied Wells County for the lowest rate in May, took the top spot alone in June at 2.8%.

Howard County continued to struggle, posting by far the highest unemployment rate in Indiana at 6.5% Lake County was next at 4.9%.

Area unemployment rates are as follows:

Adams County: 3.6%, up 0.4 percentage points, tied for 40th-highest

Blackford County: 4.2%, up 0.4 percentage points, tied for ninth-highest

Delaware County: 4.3%, up 0.5 percentage points, eighth-highest

Jay County: 3.6%, up 0.3 percentage points, tied for 40th-highest

Randolph County: 3.8%, up 0.3 percentage points, tied for 23rd-highest

Wells County: 3%, up 0.3 percentage points, tied for third-lowest