News, Arts and Culture from WFIU Public Radio and WTIU Public Television
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Unemployment Hit Manufacturing Areas Hardest In April

Unemployment rates for Indiana counties in April 2020.
Unemployment rates for Indiana counties in April 2020.

More than 1 in 4 workers experienced unemployment last month in several Indiana counties. Data released Tuesday from the Department of Workforce Development shows which areas of the state were hit hardest.

Manufacturing-dependent counties saw the highest unemployment rates. Howard County, where Kokomo is, had 34 percent unemployment. Elkhart, LaGrange and Noble counties were also heavily affected by layoffs and each had about 29 percent unemployment rates.

The new numbers shatter unemployment records set in each of those areas during the Great Recession.

On the other end of the spectrum, Martin and Daviess counties – between Bloomington and Evansville – are estimated to have less than 9 percent unemployment.

The local unemployment rates are estimates based on monthly phone surveys conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and could be revised in the future.

Contact Justin at  jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.

For the latest news and resources about COVID-19, bookmark our Coronavirus In Indiana page  here.

Tags
Justin Hicks covers statewide workforce development and employment issues. Before moving to Indiana, Justin was a freelance journalist and audio producer in New York City covering a variety of topics from crime to classical music. Justin is a graduate of New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Appalachian State University.