Local county by county unemployment numbers for the month of March have been released and Dubois County has now jumped into a tie with Indianapolis suburb Hamilton County with the state’s lowest unemployment rate.
After sitting right behind Hamilton for the past couple of months, Dubois County held steady last month forcing the deadlock.
Now statewide, more than 18,000 Hoosiers joined the labor force in March, marking a third consecutive month of unprecedented growth.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says over the past year, Indiana’s labor force has grown by over 88,000 and by over 157,000 since January of 2013. Correspondingly, the state’s labor force participation rate increased by 3 tenths of a percent last month and continues to outpace the national average by nearly two percent. Once again as we mentioned Dubois County jumped into a tie with Hamilton County as one of the two unemployment leaders in the state at 3.9 percent.
Daviess County came in at 4.3 percent, Warrick 4.8, Spencer County an even 5 percent, Martin County 5.1 percent, Pike 5.2, Perry 5.7, Orange 6.6, and Crawford County’s March unemployment rate was 7.3 percent. Vermillion County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 8.4. percent.
Also, as evidence to show that local companies take part in the increase of job growth, the Communications Director of Kimball Electronics, Scott Saalman, traveled to Indianapolis to accept the Half Century Award, on behalf of the company that honors Indiana companies with 50 years of providing jobs in Indiana. Kimball Electronics has been providing jobs for 55 years.
According to Saalman, the award was given at the Indiana Statehouse and has become the 1st time the company has solely been able to apply for the recognition after branching off in 2014 from Kimball International.
Saalman was witness to the acknowledgement given by Governor Mike Pence as he spoke of companies such as Kimball by stating, “These companies, which have been growing and adding jobs here for at least 50 or 100 years, are an engine of our state’s economy. Their longevity sets a standard for excellence and has laid a foundation for each and every company choosing to start or grow here in Indiana today. Each one of these companies is an important part of our history and I’m confident they will play a key role in our state’s future.”
Also honored for the Half Century Award was Jasper’s Schnitzelbank Restaurant and the L.H. Sturm Hardware Co. for the Century Award.
