GREENFIELD – At 3 percent, Hancock County’s October unemployment rate is among the lowest in the state, ranking in the top third of Indiana counties, new data shows.
The local unemployment rate dropped slightly last month to 3 percent, according to new labor force estimates released Monday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Countywide, 38,414 people were employed in October, compared with 38,337 the year before, the report states.
Statewide, the rate was 3.9 percent, while nationwide, the rate was 4.1 percent, according to the same report.
The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicator representing the number of unemployed people seeking work within the past four weeks as a percentage of the total labor force.
The county’s rate is only slightly worse than other doughnut counties, including Hamilton, Johnson and Hendricks counties, which all saw rates below 3 percent.
Compared with Madison, Marion and Henry counties, Hancock County’s rate was significantly better, the report shows. Marion and Henry counties’ unemployment rate in October was 3.5 percent, while Madison’s was 3.7 percent.
