Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.2 percent for April and remains lower than the national rate of 3.9 percent. With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana’s unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for more than four years. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.
In Marshall County the April unemployment rate is 2.7 ranking us 56th of the 92 counties. This is an improvement from the March 2018 unemployment rate of 3.1. Looking at this year so far, Marshall County has see rates of 3.3 in January and 3.5 in February.
Taking a look at the counties surrounding Marshall you will find Starke County who remains 5th on the list of counties with a rate of 3.9 a vast improvement from the 4.7 in March. Fulton County’s unemployment rate also saw a nice reduction from their February rate of 4.2. In March their unemployment rate was 3.0. Pulaski County’s unemployment rate in April was 2.9 ranking them 48th on the list. Their March rate was 3.2. St. Joseph County’s unemployment rate was 3.0 in Aprils a decrease from their 3.4 in March.
Elkhart and Kosciusko Counties continue hang near the bottom of the list of counties with some of the lowest unemployment rates. Kosciusko County is 88th on the list with a rate of 2.2 while Elkhart County remains 91st with a rate of 2.0.
Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 11,655 over the previous month. This was a result of a 737 increase in unemployed residents and an increase of 10,918 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.33 million, and the state’s 64.0 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.8 percent.
In addition, Indiana’s initial unemployment insurance claims continue to be at historical lows.
