June Unemployment Rates Down from Last Year, Up from May

Posted on July 26, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

Starke and Pulaski counties’ June unemployment rates are lower than last year’s, but the number of people employed has actually dropped slightly.

Last month, Starke County reported 3.5-percent unemployment, compared to 5.2-percent during the same period last year, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Meanwhile, Pulaski County’s June unemployment rate dropped to 2.9 percent from 4.4 percent in 2016.

But those numbers don’t tell the whole story. The drop in unemployment rates comes at the same time as a a drop in the labor force. The number of people actually employed decreased by 120 in Starke County and 27 in Pulaski County from June 2016 to June 2017. In both counties, last month’s unemployment rates were also a bit higher than the May figures.

LaPorte and Jasper counties had the highest June unemployment in the local area, at 3.8 percent. Marshall and White had the lowest in the area at 2.6 percent. Statewide, Indiana had 3.1-percent unemployment last month, while the U.S. average was 4.5-percent.