Jay rate is up to 3.9%

The local unemployment rate jumped back up in the last month.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development estimates released Monday show Jay County with an unemployment rate of 3.9%.

The local rate had climbed to 4.1% in February — the first time it had cleared the 4% mark since September 2020 — before dropping nearly a full percentage point over the next two months. 

Jay County’s rate in May was up 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. It was also an increase of 0.5 percentage points from May 2023.

Unemployment was up across the region as all of the counties adjacent to Jay saw increases of at least a half a percentage point. Indiana’s rate of 4% was up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.

Gibson County recorded the lowest rate in the state for the fourth consecutive month, tying with Martin and Daviess counties at 3.1%. White, Hamilton, Dubois, Clinton and Boone counties all came in at 3.2%.

Howard County again had the highest rate in the state at 5.7%. Fayette County was next at 5.5%, with Lake County as the only other above the 5% mark as it came in at 5.4%.

Adams County: 3%, down 0.7 percentage points, tied for 25th-lowest

Blackford County: 4.6%, up 0.8 percentage points, tied for seventh-highest

Delaware County: 4.7%, up 0.8 percentage points, tied for fourth-highest

Jay County: 3.9%, up 0.7 percentage points, tied for 34th-highest

Randolph County: 4.4%, up 0.8 percentage points, tied for 11th-highest

Wells County: 3.3%, up 0.5 percentage points, tied for ninth-lowest