State, county unemployment rates fall again
Posted on April 22nd, 2012
The local unemployment rate has dropped for the third month in a row.
In March, the local unemployment rate was at 7.3 percent, down from 7.5 percent last month and 7.8 percent a year ago.
The county followed the state’s trend of a declining rate. The state unemployment rate last month was 8.2 percent. The unemployment rate in Indiana has not been below 8.2 percent since December 2008, according to a report for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
“Indiana has seen steady job growth since the beginning of the year, with manufacturing leading the way, adding almost 8,000 jobs,” state workforce development commissioner Mark W. Everson said in a news release.
The state’s unemployment rate has been improving as the size of the labor force has grown.
The improvement will cause a change for unemployed workers getting extended benefits.
Under federal law, unemployed workers cannot receive the final six weeks of the 79-week unemployment insurance because the state’s three-month unemployment average is less than 8.5 percent, the release said. Residents already receiving those benefits will be able to continue, but others cannot file a claim for those benefits starting May 20, the release said.
CENTRAL INDIANA MARCH JOBLESS RATES
Johnson County: 7.3 percent
Marion County: 8.9 percent
Bartholomew County: 6.6 percent
Boone County: 7.4 percent
Hamilton County: 5.8 percent
Hancock County: 7.5 percent
Hendricks County: 7 percent
Morgan County: 8.9 percent
Shelby County: 8.5 percent
Statewide: 8.2 percent
Note: State figure seasonally adjusted; county rates are not.
SOURCE: Indiana Department of Workforce Development
Daily Journal staff report
