Unemployment ticked up across Northwest Indiana in November, but Lake County slipped to having the second-highest employment rate in the state.
LaPorte County ranked eighth in joblessness statewide, Starke County 9th and Porter County 20th in November, the most recent month for which data is available, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The jobless rate rose to 4.5% across the Gary metropolitan area, which encompasses Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. That’s up from 4.3% in October and up from 4% in November 2022.
In November, Lake County had the Hoosier State’s second-highest jobless rate at 5%, up from 4.7% the previous month and up from 4.3% in November 2022. The similarly blue-collar, manufacturing-heavy Howard County, the home of Kokomo and auto manufacturing, took the top spot with 6.6% unemployment.
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LaPorte County ranked eighth highest of Indiana’s 92 counties at 4% unemployment in November, which was up from 3.8% in October and up from 3.6% at the same time a year ago, according to the Department of Workforce Development.
Porter County’s unemployment rate rose to 3.7% in November, up from 3.5% in October and up from 3.2% at the same point a year earlier.
Overall, Indiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rose to 3.7% in November, up from 3.6% the previous month and 3.2% at the same time the previous year.
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7% in November, down from 3.9% the previous month but up from 3.6% 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 1.1 million Americans and more than 6.9 million people around the globe. More than one out of 10 Region residents on average were out of work for months.
In November, joblessness rose in most communities in Northwest Indiana but stayed the same in Schererville and Michigan City.
In the Calumet Region, Gary has the highest unemployment rate at 8.4%, followed by East Chicago at 6.9%, Merrillville at 5.8% and Hammond at 5.5%. Valparaiso and Schererville have the lowest jobless rate at 3.5%, followed by Crown Point and Michigan City at 4.1%.
