September's Unemployment Snapshot
Indiana’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell in September to 4.8 percent. When looking at the September to September data from previous years, the number of unemployed has risen since September 2001, but the pace has slowed significantly. The year-over-year change also shows jobs being added back into Indiana’s economy.
Monroe County had the lowest unemployment rate for the month at 2.6 percent, while Fayette county posted a high at 9.2 percent.
Commerce Region 7 had 42,840 people seeking work in September, accounting for approximately 28 percent of the state’s unemployed. Commerce Region 1 had the biggest improvement in its unemployment picture from the previous month, even though all four of the counties within it still had unemployment rates higher than the state average.
The counties in Commerce Region 11 have shown remarkable improvement in their employment situation when comparing year-over-year September unemployment rates relative to the state. In September 2000, 10 counties had unemployment rates approximately equal to or above the state average. By September 2003, only two counties within Region 11 had unemployment rates equal to or above the state average.
Amber Dodez-Kostelac
Data Manager, Indiana Business Research Center,
Kelley School of Business, Indiana University