Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.9 percent for March, and the national rate is 6.0 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.
Indiana’s labor force had a net decrease of 5,895 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 3,644 unemployed residents and a decrease of 2,251 employed residents.
Marshall County is ranked 53rd of the 92 counties in Indiana with an unemployment rate of 4.0 for March. In February we were ranked 64th with a rate of 3.9 and in January we were ranked 56th and had an unemployment rate of 3.8.
Looking back at March over the past few years, you will see the Marshall County unemployment rate at 3.2 in 2020; 3.7 in 2019; 3.1 in 2018 and 3.2 in 2017.
Taking a looking at the counties surrounding Marshall you will find LaPorte at number 2 on the list of counties with a rate of 6.7. in February they were 3rd with an unemployment rate of 6.9. Starke County is 9th on the list of counties with a rate of 5.5 an improvement from February when their rate was 6.1. St. Joseph County is 12th on the list with a rate of 5.3. A minimal improvement from February’s rate of 5.4. Fulton county is 28th with a rate of 4.7. Last month they were 22nd with a rate of 5.1. Pulaski is 50th with a rate of 4.1 in February their rate was 4.2. Rounding out the counties surrounding Marshall is Kosciusko County who has a March rate of 3.7 ranking them 69th. In February their rate was 3.7. Elkhart has the best rate at 3.5 and ranked 77th. In February they had the same rate of 3.5 but they were ranked 80th of the 92 counties.
Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.34 million, and the state’s 63.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.5 percent.
Learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated here: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/infographics/employment-status.asp.
Employment by Sector
Private sector employment has decreased by 84,600 over the year and decreased by 100 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Professional and Business Services (-3,700) and the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-3,000) sectors. Losses were offset by gains in the Construction (3,300) and the Leisure and Hospitality (3,100) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,626,200, which is 114,300 below the new December 2019 peak.
