By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
INDIANAPOLIS — Jobless rates were up slightly from May to June across the region, for Indiana and nationally, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. However, all numbers remain significantly lower than they were one year ago.
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 June unemployment rate was 4.3%, which ranked 35th highest among Indiana’s 92 counties. The rate is up 0.4 percentage points from the May preliminary figure and down 6.4 points from June 2020. Crawford County’s unemployment stood at 16.4% for April 2020, the height of the pandemic shutdown, and remained in double digits for three months.
In a labor force of 4,959 people for June, 98 residents were unemployed. The labor force is up 98 people from May and up 35 residents from June 2020.
Daviess County
Daviess County’s unemployment rate again came in as one of the lowest in the state. The June rate, 3%, ranked 89th highest in Indiana. The June rate is up 0.1 percentage points from May and down 2.7 percentage points from June 2020. Daviess County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 8.4%.
With a labor force of 17,254 people, Daviess County had 512 unemployed residents for June. The labor force is up 288 people from May and up 509 residents from June 2020.
Dubois County
Dubois County also enjoyed one of the lowest June jobless rates among Indiana counties. The figure came in at 3%, which ranks 90th highest. The June rate is up .2 percentage points from May and is down 4.1 percentage points from June 2020. Dubois County’s unemployment rate stood at 10.6% for April 2020.
Out of 23,927 people in the county’s labor force for June, 722 were unemployed. The labor force is up 304 people from May and up 590 people from June 2020.
Greene County
The June unemployment rate for Greene County was 4.6%, which ranked 27th out of Indiana’s 92 counties. The June rate is up .4 percentage points from May and down 4.6 percentage points from June 2020. Greene County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 12.8%.
Of a labor force of 13,500 residents for June, 618 people were unemployed. The labor force is up 15 residents from May. Greene County is one of four counties in the region seeing a drop in labor force participation from June 2020, though. The number is down 99 for the period.
Lawrence County
Lawrence County’s June jobless rate came in at 4.4%, ranking 30th highest among Hoosier counties. The June rate is up 0.3 percentage points from May and down 5.6 percentage points from June 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 20,917 residents for June, 926 of those people were unemployed. Lawrence County is one of only two counties in the region to see drops in labor force participation from May and from June 2020. The number is down 94 and 460 residents for those periods, respectively.
Martin County
Martin County saw a June unemployment rate of 3.2%, which ranked 84th highest in Indiana. The June rate is up 0.2 percentage points from May and down 3.4 percentage points from June 2020. Martin County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 8.8%.
Out of 5,546 people in the labor force for June, there were 176 unemployed residents. The labor force is up 111 residents from May and up 91 from June 2020.
Orange County
Orange County, with its heavy dependence on tourism, again registered one of the higher unemployment rates in the state for June. The figure came in at 5.1%, ranking 14th highest in Indiana. The June rate is up 0.3 percentage points from May but is down 15.1 percentage points from June 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 8,863 people for June, Orange County had 453 unemployed residents. Besides Lawrence County, Orange County was the only other county in the region reporting a drop in labor force participation from May and from June 2020. The number dropped by five and 1,063 people for the periods, respectively.
Washington County
Washington County’s June unemployment rate was 4%, which ranked as 48th highest in the state. The June rate is up 0.2 percentage points from May but is down 6.7 percentage points from June 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 13,710 residents for June, 542 of those people were unemployed. The labor force is up 130 people from May but is down seven residents from June 2020.
State and nation
Indiana’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 4.7%, and the national rate was 6.1%. Seasonally adjusted rates were 4.1% and 5.9%, respectively. (Seasonally adjusted numbers are not available below the state level.)
Continuing with non-seasonally adjusted numbers, the state’s June rate is up 0.2 percentage points from what was reported for May and down 6.5 percentage points from June 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’ June rate is up 0.6 percentage points from May and down 5.1 percentage points from June 2020. The rate was at 14.4% for April 2020 and remained in double digits for four months.
Out of Indiana’s June labor force of 3,384,338 residents, 158,161 of those people were unemployed. Indiana’s labor force is up 20,102 people from May but down 49,326 residents from June 2020. The state’s 63.2% labor force participation rate for June remains above the national rate of 61.6%.
Nationally, out of a labor force of 162,167,000 residents for June, 9,883,000 of them were unemployed. The country’s labor force is up 1,560,000 people from May and up 1,284,000 people from June 2020.
State employment by sector
Private sector employment has increased by 123,500 over the year and increased by 8,900 over the previous month. The monthly increase is primarily due to gains in the Leisure and Hospitality (8,300) and the Manufacturing (4,400) sectors. Gains were offset by losses in the Professional and Business Services (-2,900) and the Construction (-1,900) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,628,600, which is 111,900 below the December 2019 peak.