Rate goes up to 3.3%

After two great months in terms of unemployment trends, number shifted in the other direction in May.

Indiana Department of Workforce Development estimates released this week show Jay County flipped in the unemployment rankings in May, tying for the 39th-highest rate among the state’s 92 counties after tying for 24th-lowest in April.

The local unemployment rate came in at 3.3%, up by 0.6 percentage points from the previous month. That number was down by 0.3 percentage points from May 2024.

Jay County’s rate had plummeted in March and April after coming in at 4.1% in February.

Every county in the region saw an increase of 0.2 percentage points or more in May, with Adams, Blackford, Delaware and Randolph counties all going up by at least 0.5 percentage points.

Indiana’s unemployment rate came in at 3.4%, returning to the same mark it was at in March after falling to 3% in April. It was down 0.6 percentage points from the same month last year.

Union and Daviess counties, which were tied for the lowest rate in April at 2.1%, were among five counties with the low mark of 2.7% in May. Others were Wells, Pulaski and Boone counties.

Howard County continued its run of having the highest unemployment rate in the state, coming in at 5.6%.

Lake County was next at 4.9%, and every other county in the state came in at 4.2% or lower.

Area unemployment rates are as follows:

Adams County: 3.2%, up 0.5 percentage point, tied for 38th-lowest

Blackford County: 3.8%, up 0.5 percentage points, tied for 10th-highest

Delaware County: 3.8%, up 0.7 percentage points, tied for 10th-highest

Jay County: 3.3%, up 0.6 percentage points, tied for 39th-highest

Randolph County: 3.5%, up 0.2 percentage points, tied for 23rd-highest

Wells County: 2.7%, up 0.5 percentage points, tied for lowest in Indiana