ANDERSON: The unemployment rate for Anderson and Madison County remained unchanged through the first two months of the year, according to data released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Indiana’s rate from January and February increased from 4 percent in January to 4.1 percent in February while the national rate declined from 4.8 to 4.7 percent. The unemployment rate in Anderson remained at 6.2 percent as compared to 6.9 percent in February 2016. The number of people employed in Anderson dropped by 51 to a February number of 22,212. The number of people that were unemployed in February dropped to 1,422, which was a decline of 44 from January. For Madison County, the number of people employed declined by 130 in February to 56,153 and the unemployed number actually declined by 19 for the month to 3,219.
The Madison County unemployment rate was 5.4 percent in January and February; a year ago in February the rate was 6.1 percent. “Gains in Indiana’s labor force participation rate are encouraging and further growth is needed to ensure Indiana reaches its workforce potential as a state,” Steven J. Braun, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said in a press statement. “There are thousands of good paying jobs currently available throughout Indiana.” Braun said private sector employment has grown by more than 33,000 over the year. Unemployment rates for other cities in the east central Indiana region also remained mostly unchanged from January to February. Muncie was the only local city to show a decline with the unemployment rate of 5.5 percent in February compared to 5.9 percent in January. The Kokomo unemployment rate remain unchanged from January to February at 5.2 percent and the Marion rate stayed at 5.8 percent for the first two months of the year.
