INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana's unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 percent last month, carried by substantial gains in the manufacturing sector that accounted for more than half of the 10,000 new non-farm jobs, according to data released Tuesday.
Unemployment in Delaware County is also improving. It dropped to 9.3 percent last month, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. This is the lowest it's been in more than a year.
The new state unemployment rate compares with 8.8 percent in February and 9.5 percent in December, marking the first time since 1993 that Indiana's jobless rate has fallen by a full percentage point within a three-month period, Indiana Department of Workforce Development Commissioner Mark Everson said.
That also puts Indiana's rate lower than any of its neighboring states and below the national unemployment rate of 8.8 percent. The statewide unemployment rate peaked at 10.6 percent in June 2009.
However, unemployment rates in March were above 11 percent in several counties including Elkhart, Crawford and Tipton.
David Schrock-Shenk, who founded a grassroots group called Elkhart County Works Together in the Goshen area, said there hasn't been enough economic diversification to add badly needed jobs. He said he has seen a hiring uptick only in certain industries in his area, particularly the recreational vehicle industry.
Many of the workers he represents and trains fear they will be left behind as the broader economy continues to improve.
"Unemployed people here don't want to be forgotten, and they don't want to be last year's issue," Schrock-Shenk said. "That's one of the most important things ... they don't want to be forgotten."
But he added that, surprisingly, unemployed people he's worked with have been less open to media attention because the focus over the past couple years has shifted from "what's wrong with the economy" to "what's wrong with you" when addressing systemic factors behind joblessness.
Unemployment benefits claims were not accounted for when putting together the latest unemployment report, said Department of Workforce Development spokeswoman Valerie Kroeger.
But she said the number of new state claims for unemployment benefits in March was 22,000, or one-third lower than the rate in March 2010, holding true to the trend that the agency has been seeing over the past year.
The department reported that the manufacturing sector had 5,200 new hires, followed by the leisure and hospitality services with 3,000 new jobs. Private education and health services added 1,900 positions, while financial activities accounted for 1,800 new jobs.
The professional and business services sector reported the most significant decline, losing 2,200 jobs in March.
By the numbers
- 8.5 percent- state unemployment in March
- 8.8 percent- state unemployment in February
- 9.5 percent- state unemployment in December
- 9.3 percent- Delaware County unemployment in March
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