Unemployment plummeted in most of Northwest Indiana in April, though the Region again had some of the highest jobless rates in the state.
Lake County ranked first in joblessness statewide. LaPorte County was third, and Porter County 22nd, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The unemployment rate peaked at nearly 20% in Northwest Indiana in April 2020, but largely has been declining since then, hitting record lows in the Region and the state in recent months.
The jobless rate fell 0.7 percentage points to 3.4% in April across the Gary metropolitan area, which encompasses Lake, Porter, Newton and Jasper counties. The unemployment rate in the Gary metro area was 4.1% the previous month and 6.2% in April 2021.
In April, Lake County had the Hoosier State's highest jobless rate at 3.9%, down from 4.6% from the previous month, and down significantly from 7.1% during April 2021. It edged out Howard County, where the similarly blue-collar manufacturing town of Kokomo is located, for the fifth straight month.
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LaPorte County ranked third highest of Indiana's 92 counties at 3% unemployment in April, which was down from 3.9% in March, and down significantly from 5.7% at the same time a year ago, according to the Department of Workforce Development.
Porter County's unemployment fell to 2.3% in April, down from 3% in March, and down from 4.4% at the same point a year earlier.
Overall, Indiana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained 2.2% in April, down from 4.1% at the same time the previous year. The U.S. unemployment rate stayed steady at 3.6% in April, down from 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 million Americans and nearly 6.3 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 across most of Northwest Indiana, decreasing by 1.3 percentage points in East Chicago, 1.1 percentage points in Hobart and Michigan City and 0.6 percentage points in Merrillville and Schererville.
In the Calumet Region, Gary has the highest unemployment rate of 6.4%, followed by East Chicago at 5.3% and Hammond at 5.2%.
Valparaiso had the lowest jobless rate in the Region at 2%, followed by Crown Point at 2.8% and Schererville at 3%.
