Pike, Dubois unemployment numbers tick upward | News

Pike County's unemployment rate jumped more than one percentage point from May to June according to figures released by the Department of Workforce Development on Friday.  Pike's rate for June was 7.9%.

Dubois County continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in the state of Indiana at 5.8%.  That number for June was up from 5.4% in May.

For the eighth consecutive month Indiana added private sector jobs, with June’s increase totaling 1,400. For 2012, the rate of job growth in the Hoosier state (1.5 percent) continues to far exceed the US average (0.9 percent). Since July 2009, the low point of employment, Indiana has added 140,400 private sector jobs and has significantly outpaced the national rate of growth during this period, (6.0 percent versus 3.3 percent). 

“Manufacturing continues to lead the charge in Hoosier job growth, adding 2,800 jobs in June and 15,100 for 2012,” said Scott B. Sanders, Commissioner of the Department of Workforce Development. “Of the 140,400 private sector jobs Indiana has added since July 2009, almost half (60,300) have come from this sector alone.”

While the Professional and Business Services (4,700) and Financial Activities (1,200) sectors also showed significant increases in June, Indiana’s unemployment rate crept up 0.1 percent to 8.0 percent. However, unemployment in the Hoosier state is still below the national rate of 8.2 percent and has remained so for 3 consecutive months. In June the unemployment rates of all of Indiana’s neighbors either increased or remained stagnant, with the exception of Ohio. This month marks the first increase in Indiana’s unemployment rate in nearly a year.