Jay rate jumps to 3.8%

Jay County was able to head in the right direction when unemployment shifts were a mixed bag in June.

It couldn’t hold off the unemployment increases last month.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development estimates released this week show Jay County had an unemployment rate of 3.8% in July.

The local rate went up by 0.5 percentage points from the previous month. (In June, most counties in the state had unemployment increases. Jay County’s number dropped by 0.1 percentage points.)

Jay County’s rate was 3% in July 2022.

Rates throughout the area and the state were up last month, as Adams, Delaware and Randolph counties all saw unemployment rate increases of 0.5 percentage points or more. Indiana’s rate climbed 0.3 percentage points to 4%.

Despite the increase, Jay County continued its stretch of three-plus years with an unemployment rate of 4% or lower. (It had spiked to 19.9% in April 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.)

The local rate tied with Randolph County and three others for 37th-highest in Indiana. (Jay County was also tied for 37th-highest in June.)

Gibson County again posted the lowest unemployment rate in the state, tying with Daviess County at 2.9%. Wells and Dubois counties were next at 3%.

Adams County, which has been a regular among the 10 lowest rates in the state for years, dropped to a tie for the 34th-lowest rate as its number went up by 0.6 percentage points in July.

Lake County continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the state at 5.8%.

The only other counties at 5% or higher were Fayette (5.6%), Howard (5.3%), Elkhart (5.2%) and Delaware (5%).

Area rates are as follows:

•Adams County: 3.5%, up 0.6 percentage points, tied for 34-lowest

•Blackford County: 4.5%, up 0.2 percentage points, tied for 10th-highest 

•Delaware County: 5%, up 0.5 percentage points, fifth-highest 

•Jay County: 3.8%, up 0.5 percentage points, tied for 37th-highest

•Randolph County: 3.8%, up 0.6 percentage points, tied for 37th-highest

•Wells County: 3%, up 0.1 percentage points, tied for third-lowest