November's Unemployment Snapshot

Indiana's non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.7 percent is almost a full percentage point below the U.S. rate (5.6). Most of Indiana's Midwestern neighbors were not so fortunate and posted higher unemployment rates than the state.

Figure 1: County-level map of Indiana's  November unemployment

When comparing the year-over-year changes in the unemployment rates for Indiana counties from 2000 to 2003, north central Indiana showed improvement in its employment situation relative to the state, while central and southwestern Indiana lost ground.

The Indianapolis metropolitan area had the largest absolute decline in unemployment, with 725 of its residents dropping out of the unemployment rolls. Fort Wayne saw a decline of 280. Nearly a third of the state's unemployed resided in Marion, Lake and Allen counties.

Amber Dodez-Kostelac
Data Manager, Indiana Business Research Center, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University