Unemployment fell across most of Northwest Indiana in April and Lake County no longer has the highest unemployment rate in the state, falling to second statewide.
Northwest Indiana counties, however, had three of the nine highest unemployment rates statewide in April.
Lake County ranked second in joblessness statewide, Starke County fifth, LaPorte County ninth and Porter County 25th in April, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The jobless rate slid in April to 4.5% across the Gary metropolitan area, which encompasses Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties, according to the state. That’s down from 5.5% in March and down from 5.7% in April 2023.
In April, Lake County had the Hoosier Stateâs second highest jobless rate at 5%, down from 6% the previous month and up from 4% in April 2023. The similarly blue-collar, manufacturing-heavy Howard County, the home of Kokomo and auto factories, claimed first place statewide with 6.1% unemployment.
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LaPorte County ranked ninth highest of Indianaâs 92 counties at 4.1% unemployment in April, which was down from 5% in March and up from 3.3% at the same time a year ago, according to the Department of Workforce Development.
Porter Countyâs unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in April, down from 4.4% in March and up from 3.2% at the same point a year earlier.
Overall, Indianaâs seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up to 3.6% in April, up from 3.5% the previous month and up from 3.2% at the same time the previous year.
The nationâs unemployment rate was 3.9% in April, up from 3.8% the previous month and up from 3.4% at the same point a year earlier, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Unemployment climbed as high as 12% in Northwest Indiana during the depths of the Great Recession in the late 2000s, but it had been significantly higher in Northwest Indiana during the pandemic following stay-at-home orders meant to stop the spread of a virus that has killed more than 1.2 million Americans and more than 7 million people around the globe. More than one out of 10 Region residents on average were out of work for months.
In April, joblessness fell in every Northwest Indiana community where it’s tracked.
In the Calumet Region, Gary has the highest unemployment rate at 7.3%, followed by East Chicago at 6.7%, Merrillville at 5.7% and Hammond at 5.4%. Valparaiso has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.4%, followed by Schererville at 3.5% and Crown Point at 4.4%.
