09/19/11  Indiana and our neighboring states saw an uptick in the August unemployment rate. The preliminary seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate went from 8.5 to 8.7 percent in August. The U.S. rate remained flat at 9.1 percent this month. Indiana continues to be below the national average and that of all neighboring states for the seventh month in a row. Private sector employment decreased by 4,800 in August. The National Bureau of Labor Statistics also revised Indiana’s July job growth numbers to show an increase of 4,100 more private sector jobs than reported last month.Marshall County’s unemployment rate keeps creeping up.  In April the rate was 9.0 while May saw it increase to 9.1.  June again saw a slight increase up to 9.2 and July’s rate was 9.3.  August saw a slightly larger increase with a rate of 9.5 ranking Marshall County 27thof the 92 counties.Other counties around the area saw a mix of changes…Elkhart County went up from 10.6 to 10.7 and Kosciusko increased from 7.7 to 7.9.  Fulton County held their own at 8.7 for the second month in a row while Starke County saw a slight decrease from 10.4 to 10.3 and Saint Joseph County also dropping from 10.0 in July to 9.9 in August.

Fayette County continues at the top of the list with an unemployment rate of 12.1 up from 12.0 in July.  The county at the bottom of the list, Dubois County was at 5.6 in July and showed a substantial increase to 6.1 in August.

“The July revision of private sector jobs largely offsets the August decrease, making the job numbers essentially the same as last month,” said Mark W. Everson, Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development. “While the number of long-term unemployed is still too high, for the first time since November of 2007, fewer than 50,000 individuals are collecting state unemployment insurance.”

Employment by Sector   Sectors showing significant employment gains in August include: Construction (2,200) and Government (2,300). The Manufacturing (-3,700) and Trade, Transportation & Utilities (-1,200) sectors showed significant decline. Total non-farm employment decreased (-2,500) in August.
Midwest Employment Picture

 

August 2010

July 2011

August 2011

Monthly Change

Indiana

10.0%

8.5%

8.7%

+0.2%

U.S.

9.6%

9.1%

9.1%

0.0%

Illinois

10.0%

9.5%

9.9%

+0.4%

Kentucky

10.2%

9.5%

9.5%

0.0%

Michigan

12.2%

10.9%

11.2%

+0.3%

Ohio

9.9%

9.0%

9.1%

+0.1%