Jay stays among lower rates

No change was good news for the county in February.

Jay County’s unemployment rate stayed at 4.1% in February according to estimates Indiana Department of Workforce Development released Monday afternoon.

The stable rate kept Jay County in the lowest third for unemployment in the state, ranking tied for 26th-lowest among the 92 counties. It was tied for 25th lowest in January after consistently being in the upper half of unemployment rates over the previous couple of years.

The local rate was the same as in February 2024.

The last two months have been a significant improvement for Jay County as compared to the rest of the state. It was consistently among the lowest third, and sometimes better, in Indiana for years, including tying for the 12th-lowest rate in June 2021. Its performance began to slip in the second half of 2021, moving near the middle and then consistently in the upper half until January. (It was tied for the 29th-highest rate in the state in November.)

The state’s unemployment rate came in at 4.1% in February. That was down 0.4 percentage points from January and down 0.3 percentage points from February 2024.

Howard County continued to struggle in the unemployment statistics, coming in with the highest rate in the state at 7.1%. Lake (6.7%), Crawford (6.6%) and Starke (6.6%) counties were next. Each of the other 88 counties came in at under 6%.

Union County claimed the lowest rate in the state for the second month in a row at 3.2%. Boone, Daviess and Hamilton counties were again tied for second at 3.4%.

Area unemployment rates are as follows:

Adams County: 4.2%, up 0.1 percentage points, tied for 28th-lowest

Blackford County: 5.3%, down 0.3 percentage points, tied for 10th-highest

Delaware County: 4.9%, no change, tied for 18th-highest

Jay County: 4.1%, no change, tied for 26th-lowest

Randolph County: 5.2%, up 0.3 percentage points, tied for 13th-highest

Wells County: 3.7%, down 0.1 percentage points, tied for seventh-lowest