By DAVE SCHULTZ
Wells County’s preliminary unemployment rate for June was listed as 2.3 percent Tuesday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, a number which again was one of the lowest in the state.
That 2.3 unemployment rate was tied for the fifth-lowest number out of Indiana’s 92 counties. Four counties — LaGrange and Steuben in northeast Indiana, plus Boone and Ohio — all had 2.2 unemployment rates. Adams County also had, like Wells, a 2.3 percent unemployment rate.
The DWD numbers also showed Wells with a labor force of 14,437 in June, which compares to 14,016 in June of 2121. The number of employed persons was 14,101 in June of 2022 and 13,586 in June of 2021.
An analysis of the numbers shows a 28.2 percent reduction in unemployed workers even as the total worker pool increased.
The analysis shows that the Fort Wayne metro numbers, which includes Allen, Wells, and Whitley counties, at 215,335 employed workers in June compared to 207,932 a year ago.
Regionally, all of the counties except one in northeast Indiana’s Economic Growth Region 3 — Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Grant, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley — had an unemployment rate less than the state’s aggregate 3.2 percent. Grant was the outlier, at 3.5 percent.
Numbers for other counties in Region 3 and counties contiguous to Wells were DeKalb and Whitley, 2.5 percent; Huntington, 2.7; Jay, 2.8; Wabash, 2.9; Noble, 3.0; Allen, 3.1; and Blackford, 3.4.
“The local employment picture continues to show strength as measured by the increase in those who are working and the decrease in those looking for work,” said Rachel Blakeman, director of Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Community Research Institute. “All the northeast Indiana counties showed a year-over-year increase in the number of employed workers. Labor market information is considered to be a lagging indicator for any sort of recessionary pressures so I wouldn’t use these numbers as a predictive quality of what lies ahead for our local economy.”
“While the numbers do suggest positive movement, many employers are still struggling to fill all of their open positions,” said Rick Farrant, director of communications for Northeast Indiana Works. “In the short term, employers continue to roll out enticing welcome mats for workers, but there is also great momentum for executing longer-term strategies, such as attracting talent from elsewhere and growing and retaining talent within the region. The collective energy for forging lasting solutions is remarkable.”
daves@news-banner.com
