By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
INDIANAPOLIS — Jobless rates in the eight counties of the region inched downward from February, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s March employment report. While all the counties’ rates remain up from March 2020, the new figures are down significantly from levels seen during the height of the COVID shutdown last spring.
The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force. The labor force includes residents employed and those seeking employment.
Crawford County
Crawford County’s March unemployment rate came in at 4.8%, which ranked as 25th highest among Indiana’s 92 counties. The rate is down 0.7 percentage points from February and up 0.1 points from March 2020. Crawford County’s unemployment stood at 16.4% for April 2020 and remained in double digits for three months.
In a labor force of 4,803 people for March, 231 residents were unemployed. The labor force is down 38 people from February and up 96 residents from March 2020.
Daviess County
Daviess County once again registered one of the state’s lowest unemployment rates. The March rate, 3%, ranked 91st highest in Indiana. The March rate is down 0.2 percentage points from February and up 0.3 percentage points from March 2020. Daviess County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 8.4%.
With a labor force of 16,440 people, Daviess County had 496 unemployed residents for March. The labor force is down 141 people from February and up 221 residents from March 2020.
Dubois County
Dubois County’s jobless rate for March was 3.4%, which ranks 81st highest out of Indiana’s 92 counties. The March rate is down 0.2 percentage points from February and up one percentage point from March 2020. Dubois County’s unemployment rate stood at 10.6% for April 2020.
Out of 22,151 people in the county’s labor force for March, 758 were unemployed. The labor force is down 204 people from February and down 45 people from March 2020.
Greene County
The March unemployment rate for Greene County was 4.9%, which ranked 22nd out of Indiana’s 92 counties. The March rate is down 0.1 percentage points from February and up 0.4 percentage points from March 2020. Greene County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 12.8%.
Of a labor force of 13,157 residents for March, 641 people were unemployed. The labor force is down 153 residents from February and down 71 residents from March 2020.
Lawrence County
Lawrence County’s March jobless rate came in at 4.7%, ranking 29th highest among Hoosier counties. The March rate is down 0.3 percentage points from February and up 1.1 percentage points from March 2020. Lawrence County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 17.6% and didn’t drop back into single digits until the report for July.
Out of a labor force of 20,361 residents for March, 949 of those people were unemployed. The labor force is down 250 people from February and 323 people from March 2020.
Martin County
Martin County saw a March unemployment rate of 3.3%, which ranked 86th highest in Indiana. The March rate is down 0.2 percentage points from February and up 0.6 percentage points from March 2020. Martin County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 8.8%.
Out of 5,385 people in the labor force for March, there were 180 unemployed residents. The labor force is down 66 residents from February and up 196 from March 2020.
Orange County
With its heavy dependence on tourism, Orange County again registered one of the highest unemployment rates in the state for March. The figure came in at 5.7%, ranking fifth highest in Indiana. The March rate is down 0.1 percentage points from February and up two percentage points from March 2020. Orange County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was a staggering 25.8% and remained in double digits for four months.
With a labor force of 8,347 people for March, Orange County had 477 unemployed residents. The labor force is down 139 people from February and down 58 people from March 2020.
Washington County
Washington County’s March unemployment rate was 4.5%, which ranked as 35th highest in the state. The March rate is down 0.1 percentage points from February and up 0.9 percentage points from March 2020. Washington County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 19.1% and remained in double digits for three months.
Out of a labor force of 13,194 residents for March, 593 of those people were unemployed. The labor force is down 1,195 people from February and down seven residents from March 2020.
State and nation
Indiana’s non-seasonally adjusted March unemployment rate was 4.7%, and the national rate was 6.2%. Seasonally adjusted rates were 3.9% and 6%, respectively. (Seasonally adjusted numbers are not available below the state level.)
Continuing with non-seasonally adjusted numbers, the state’s March rate is dead even with what was reported for February and up 1.3 percentage points from March 2020. Indiana saw a jobless rate of 17.1% for April 2020, and the rate didn’t slip back down into single digits until the report for July.
The United States’ March rate is down 0.4 percentage points from February and up 1.7 percentage points from March 2020. The rate was at 14.4% for April 2020 and remained in double digits for four months.
Out of Indiana’s March labor force of 3,296,498 residents, 153,805 of those people were unemployed. Indiana’s labor force had a net decrease of 5,895 from the previous month. This change was a result of a decrease of 3,644 unemployed residents and a decrease of 2,251 employed residents. The state’s 63.1% labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.5%.
Nationally, out of a labor force of 160,397,000 residents for March, 9,905,000 of them were unemployed. The country’s labor force is down 389,000 people from February and down 2,140,000 people from March 2020.
State employment by sector
Private sector employment has decreased by 100 residents from February and by 84,600 people from March 2020. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Professional and Business Services (-3,700) and the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-3,000) sectors. Losses were offset by gains in the Construction (3,300) and the Leisure and Hospitality (3,100) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,626,200, which is 114,300 below the new December 2019 peak.