Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.2 percent for December and remains lower than the national rate of 3.5 percent.  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.

Marshall County’s December unemployment rate is 2.9, an improvement from the November rate of 3.1.  October’s rate was 2.8.  Looking back over the past several months you’ll see Marshall County’s rates fairly steady.  September was 2.7; August 3.0; July 3.4; and June 2.8.  the best way to compare unemployment figures is from year to year for the same month.  In 2018 the county’s December rate was 3.2; 2017 it was 2.7; while in 2016 it was 3.4 and in 2015 it was 4.0.

Taking a looking at the counties surrounding Marshall you will find Starke County sitting 7^th on the list with a rate of 4.0.  Last month they were 4^th on the list of counties with the same rate.  Saint Joseph County is 25^th on the list with a rate of 3.4.  In November they were 20th with a rate of 3.5.

LaPorte County moved up to 5^th from 7^th last month with a rate of 4.2.  Elkhart County is sitting in 60th place with a rate of 2.7. Fulton County jumped from 46th in November with a rate of 3.0 to 26^th in December with a rate of 3.3.   Kosciusko County was 59th on the list of counties with a rate of 2.9 in November and in December they moved to 61^st with a rate of 2.7.   Rounding out the counties surrounding Marshall you will find Pulaski County 34^th with a rate of 3.2.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 1,948 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 3 unemployed residents and an increase of 1,951 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.38 million, and the state’s 64.4 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 63.2 percent.