Hancock County unemployment rates somewhat improve
HANCOCK COUNTY — The county’s unemployment rate for June 2020 was 9.2%, down from May’s rate of 9.9%
For April 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on unemployment were first seen, Hancock County’s rate jumped to 14.2%, up from 2.7% the month before.
The county’s unemployment rate in June 2019 was 3%.
On a list ranking June 2020 unemployment rates in Indiana’s 92 counties from highest to lowest, Hancock County came in at 65th. Orange County topped the list, at 20.2%, while Daviess County had the lowest, at 5.7%.
Indiana’s June 2020 unemployment rate was 11.2%, down from May’s 11.9% and the 17.1% it tallied for April at the start of the pandemic. The state’s unemployment rate in June 2019 was 3.3%.
The unemployment rate for the U.S. was 11.2% for June 2020, 13% for May 2020, 14.4% for April 2020 and 3.8% for June 2019.
State farmland values increase, but slump feared
WEST LAFAYETTE — The 2020 Purdue Farmland Value and Cash Rents Survey suggests that farmland prices across Indiana improved since the June 2019 survey; however, many of those gains occurred between June and December 2019. Since then farmland prices have declined modestly.
The strongest year-to-year statewide increase was for poor-quality land, which was up 6.3%. Top-quality land was up 4.5% and average-quality land was up 3.2%. Between June and December 2019, top-, average- and poor-quality farmland values increased by 5.5%, 5% and 8.7%, respectively; yet, between December 2019 and June 2020, top-, average- and poor-quality farmland values posted modest declines of 1%, 1.7% and 2.2%.
Todd H. Kuethe, Purdue associate professor and the Schrader Endowed Chair in Farmland Economics, who authored the survey, said that many of the survey’s respondents emphasized the uncertainty related to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Tech assistance, grants available to manufacturers
INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana manufacturers are eligible for on-site technical assistance and training from the Purdue Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
With funding from IDEM’s Pollution Prevention Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Purdue MEP is offering a new process improvement assessment: Water, Air, Solid Waste, Toxics and Energy, or WASTE Stream Mapping. The process can reveal substantial opportunities to reduce costs, improve production flow, save time, improve worker safety, reduce inventory and improve environmental performance.
Businesses can also apply for grant funds to provide seed money to implement the solutions. The competitive grants, funded by the EPA, will be awarded by IDEM. Eligible applicants include only 15 manufacturing companies selected to participate in the WASTE Stream Mapping opportunity. IDEM anticipates awarding six to 10 grants and will distribute a total of $45,000.
For more information and to apply, visit mep.purdue.edu.
