All 92 Indiana counties as well as the State of Indiana experienced decreases in unemployment rates for the month of April, according to figures released this morning by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.  Indiana saw a decrease of .2%, while the Starke County rate decreased 1.3% down to 10.3%.

Private sector employment in the Hoosier state also increased by 6,800 jobs over the past month and exceeded the national rate of growth. Indiana has now experienced private sector employment growth in 37 of the past 40 months. 

April also recorded the biggest drop in the total number of unemployed in over a year. Seven thousand, eight hundred fewer Hoosiers were reported unemployed in April than reported in March. Weekly claims for unemployment insurance also decreased by more than 14 percent over the past month and initial claims continue to remain below 2005 levels. 

The Labor Department reported this morning that there was an increase of only 88,000 jobs in March, which compared unfavorably with the 268,000 jobs created in February.  Despite this news, the national unemployment rate actually decreased, from 7.7% in February to 7.6% in March.  That rate is obtained from a different survey than the jobs report, and most analysts say that the rate only went down because the number of people active in the labor force, either working or looking for work went down, and not because more unemployed people obtained jobs.  On the good news front, this did mark the 30th consecutive month that the United States economy added jobs.

The unemployment rate for Starke County is reported to be 12.3% for the month of February, according to figures released this morning by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD).  This is a decrease from the 12.4% revised rate for the month of January, but still leaves the County at its highest rate of unemployment since the same month last year.

The State of Indiana saw an increase in its rate from 8.6% up to 8.7%, due to an increase in the labor force of 7500 individuals, of which 3800 were unemployed persons who have returned to looking for a job.  Indiana did record an increase of 5800 new jobs for the month.  Ohio at 8.0% and Kentucky at 7.9% have lower rates than Indiana, while Michigan at 8.8% and Illinois at 9.5% have higher rates.

The United States as a whole has an unemployment rate of 7.7%, down from 7.9% in January.

The first monthly report on unemployment for 2013 was released this morning by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD).  That report showed that the State of Indiana experienced an increase of .3% from the December report, as only 8,200 private jobs were added state-wide in January.  Although this marked the 19th consecutive month of job growth, the rate increased on the strength of 14,000 individuals being added to the labor force, of which more than 10,000 were returning unemployed persons now once again looking for work.  All 92 Indiana counties experienced a negative change in their own unemployment rate, which topped the previous month when 91 counties saw their rate increase from the previous month.

Starke County remained for the third consecutive month as the 6th highest Indiana county with regards to unemployment rate with a 1.7% increase, going from 10.8% in December to 12.5% in January.  For the County, the labor force increased by 162 persons, which just about matched the increase in the number of unemployed persons, which was 185.  The amount of employed persons in the County decreased by only 22 persons.

As far as neighboring states are concerned, Michigan at 8.9% and Illinois at 9.0% remained higher than Indiana, while Kentucky at 7.9% and Ohio at 7.0% are still lower than Indiana.

The Labor Department released its jobs report for the month of January this morning.  Although American employers added 157,000 jobs during the month, which was about what economists had forecast, the national unemployment rate increased from 7.8% in December to 7.9% in January.  The Department also revised its December jobs number to 196,000 jobs.  Nationally there still remains 12.3 million idle workers.

The United States unemployment rate was reported to be 7.8% in December, the same as the revised rate for November.  155,000 jobs were added in December.

Indiana's unemployment rate for November, 2012 held at 8.0%, despite a private sector loss of 9800 jobs, attributed mostly due to losses in the seasonal nature of construction jobs.  Indiana continues to have the second lowest unemployment rate when compared to the states that it is contiguous to.  Ohio is lowest at 6.8%, followed by Indiana, with Kentucky at 8.2%, Illinois at 8.7%, and Michigan at 8.9%.

While the state rate was unchanged, Starke County saw its rate go upwards a full percentage point to 9.9%, the same rate that was recorded in July of this year, but still lower than the 11.7% rate for January, 2012.  Most counties in the state of Indiana saw large increases in their unemployment rate from that reported in October.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) released its October unemployment report this morning.  The State of Indiana experienced a slight drop of .1% from September at 8.0%.  Since October of 2011, that rate has fallen from 9.1% to the current level of 8.0%.  The State added 7,700 private sector jobs and since last October, has added a total of 67,000 private sector jobs.

Starke County's rate remained unchanged from September at 8.9%, and since October of 2011, that rate has fallen from 10.3%.

Ohio leads all neighboring states at 6.9%, while Kentucky is at 8.4%, Illinois is at 8.8%, and Michigan is at 9.1%.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) released its September Unemployment Report this morning. Starke County experienced a drop in its rate from an adjusted 9.7% in August down to 8.9% for September. This is the lowest rate for the County since November of 2008, and the first time the rate has been under 9% in that same period of time. The number of unemployed persons also fell under 1000 for the first time since November of 2008.

On the state level, Indiana saw its first rate decline since April of this year, despite the fact that 6,000 private sector jobs were lost during the month. The Indiana rate fell from 8.3% in August to 8.2% in September. The DWD also reported that the state saw its first increase in the total labor force in the last 7 months. Around the Midwest, Indiana continues to have the second lowest rate to that of Ohio, at 7.0%. Kentucky is at 8.4%, Illinois is at 8.8%, and Michigan is at 9.3%.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) issued its August unemployment report this morning.  While Indiana saw its rate rise from 8.2% to 8.3% for the month, Starke County was one of 76 counties in the State to see a decrease in its rate,going from 9.9% in July down to 9.6% for August.  Most neighboring counties also saw a decrease in their rates.  The rate for Starke County has thus fallen from 11.7% in January of 2012 to this month's 9.6%.

Indiana saw an increase of 7,200 private sector jobs for the month, fueled mainly by the areas of Educational and Health Services (5.200) and Construction (2,000).  Of note for the past two months is a seeming discrepancy in figures tabulated by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics in the two measures of job growth and employment.  If their figures are accurate, it would show that over 66,000 Hoosiers have gone from gainfully employed to being no longer in the work force in a span of three months.  This is despite a net gain of over 11,000 private sector jobs in Indiana during the same period.  Starke County's reported Labor Force went from 10,587 in June to 10,381 in July and then back up to 10,415 in August.