November unemployment rates in south-central Indiana are more than one point below the seasonally adjusted state-wide rate of 3 percent.
According to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bloomington’s unemployment rate was 1.9 percent in November. That’s down from 2.3 percent in October and 4 percent last November.
Columbus’s rate also dropped from 2 percent in October to 1.6 percent in November. Last year at this time, the unemployment rate was 4 percent.
Nearby county unemployment rates for Nov. 2021 include:
County | November 2021 | October 2021 | November 2020 |
Bartholomew | 1.6% | 2% | 3.9% |
Brown | 1.8% | 2.2% | 4.3% |
Monroe | 1.7 % | 2.2% | 3.8% |
Morgan | 1.7 % | 2% | 3.7% |
Owen | 2.2% | 2.6% | 4.3% |
Data shows the Monroe County labor force –the total number of people working or looking for work — dropped from 69,281 in October to 69,134 in November. At this time last year, the labor force had only 69,017 people.
By comparison, the Bartholomew County labor force increased from 44,280 in October to 44,623 in November.
READ MORE: Indiana unemployment rate falling fast, but job openings are still rising
The state’s current unemployment rate of 3 percent is 0.3 percent lower than it was in October and 2 percent lower than Nov. 2020. The U.S. seasonally adjusted rate for November is 4.2 percent, down from 4.6 percent in October and 6.7 percent in Nov. 2020.
In total, about 6.3 million people are unemployed in the U.S., including almost 69,500 Hoosiers.
