Jay Co. rate jumps to 25th-lowest

The local unemployment rate stayed nearly stable in January.

But doing so, the county made a massive jump in the state rankings.

Jay County’s rate improved to 25th-lowest among the state’s 92 counties according to estimates the Indiana Department of Workforce Development released on Tuesday.

The local unemployment rate jumped 30 spots in the state rankings after coming in tied for the 36th-highest rate in the state in December. Its mark of 4.1% puts it in a tie with Adams, Benton, Knox, Ohio, Rush and Whitley counties.

Jay County’s rate was up just 0.1 percentage points from December while each of the adjacent counties saw increases of at least 0.3 percentage points. It went up 0.4 percentage points from January 2024.

Unemployment increased across the state in January, with the state rate coming in at 4.5%. That’s up a half a percentage point from the previous month and 0.4 percentage points from the same month last year.

Howard County again had by far the highest unemployment rate in the state at 7.5%, which was down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month. Starke County was next at 6.9% and Crawford County followed at 6.2%. Each of the state’s other 89 counties came in at 5.7% or lower.

Union County took over the lowest rate in the state from Gibson and Daviess counties, at 3.1%. Daviess, Hamilton and Boone counties were a distant second at 3.5%.

Area unemployment rates are as follows:

Adams County: 4.1%, up 0.6 percentage points, tied for 25th-lowest

Blackford County: 5.6%, up 0.5 percentage points, tied for sixth-highest

Delaware County: 4.9%, up 0.3 percentage points, tied for 24th-highest

Jay County: 4.1%, up 0.1 percentage points, tied for 25th-lowest

Randolph County: 4.9%, up 0.4 percentage points, tied for 24th-highest

Wells County: 3.8%, up 0.4 percentage points, tied for 13th-lowest