By Miles Flynn | Southern Indiana Business Report
INDIANAPOLIS — August jobless rates were little changed for the region, state and nation, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
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 August unemployment rate was 3.7%, which ranked 35th highest among Indiana’s 92 counties. The rate is dead even with the July preliminary figure and down 2.1 points from August 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 4,951 people for August, 183 residents were unemployed. The labor force is up 77 people from July and up 67 residents from August 2020.
Daviess County
Daviess County’s unemployment rate for August was again among the lowest seen in the state. The August rate, 2.6%, ranked 89th highest in Indiana. The August rate is unchanged from July and down 0.9 percentage points from August 2020. Daviess County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 8.4%.
With a labor force of 16,482 people, Daviess County had 432 unemployed residents for August. The labor force is down 192 people from July and down 107 residents from August 2020.
Dubois County
Like its neighbor to the north, Dubois County also enjoyed one of the state’s lowest jobless rates in the August report. The figure came in at 2.7%, which ranks 85th highest. The August rate is unchanged from July and is down 1.8 percentage points from August 2020. Dubois County’s unemployment rate stood at 10.6% for April 2020.
Out of 22,129 people in the county’s labor force for August, 590 were unemployed. The labor force is down 530 people from July and down 835 people from August 2020.
Greene County
The August unemployment rate for Greene County was 3.9%, which ranked 26th highest out of Indiana’s 92 counties. The August rate is down 0.1 percentage points from July and down 1.8 percentage points from August 2020. Greene County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 12.8%.
Of a labor force of 13,331 residents for August, 523 people were unemployed. The labor force is up 280 residents from July but down 110 from August 2020.
Lawrence County
Lawrence County’s August jobless rate came in at 4%, ranking 23rd highest among Hoosier counties. The August rate is down 0.1 percentage points from July and down 1.9 percentage points from August 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 2020.
Out of a labor force of 20,664 residents for August, 832 of those people were unemployed. The labor force is up 406 people from July but down 507 from August 2020.
Martin County
Martin County saw an August unemployment rate of 2.8%, which ranked 83rd highest in Indiana. The August rate is even with what was recorded for July and down 1.1 percentage points from August 2020. Martin County’s jobless rate for April 2020 was 8.8%.
Out of 5,370 people in the labor force for August, there were 153 unemployed residents. The labor force is down 125 residents from July and down 56 from August 2020.
Orange County
Orange County, with its many tourist-focused businesses, again registered one of the state’s higher unemployment rates for August. The figure came in at 4.9%, ranking eighth highest in Indiana. The August rate is down 0.1 percentage points from July and down 3.2 percentage points from August 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 7,922 people for August, Orange County had 387 unemployed residents. Labor force participation is up 46 people from July but down 1,096 from August 2020.
Washington County
Washington County’s August unemployment rate was 3.4%, which ranked as 53rd highest in the state. The August rate is unchanged from July and down 2.5 percentage points from August 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 13,506 residents for August, 453 of those people were unemployed. The labor force is down 161 people from July but is up 145 residents from August 2020.
State and nation
Indiana’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for August was 4%, and the national rate was 5.3%. Seasonally adjusted rates were 4.1% and 5.2%, respectively. (Seasonally adjusted numbers are not available below the state level.)
Continuing with non-seasonally adjusted numbers, the state’s August rate is down 0.2 percentage points from what was reported for July and down 2.5 percentage points from August 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 2020.
The United States’ August rate is down 0.4 percentage points from July and down 3.2 percentage points from August 2020. The rate was at 14.4% for April 2020 and remained in double digits for four months.
Out of Indiana’s August labor force of 3,334,878 residents, 133,638 of those people were unemployed. Indiana’s labor force is down 18,921 people from July and down 29,788 residents from August 2020. The state’s 63.1% labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.7%.
Nationally, out of a labor force of 161,788,000 residents for August, 8,556,000 of them were unemployed. The country’s labor force is down 1,029,000 people from July and up 822,000 people from August 2020.
State employment by sector
Private sector employment has increased by 72,700 over the year and decreased by 3,400 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Manufacturing (-4,300) and the Leisure and Hospitality (-2,400) sectors. Losses were offset by gains in the Private Educational and Health Services (1,900) and the All Other, which includes Mining, Logging, Information, and other services except Public Administration (1,100) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,648,800, which is 91,700 below the December 2019 peak.