The Labor Department says the Elkhart area posted the largest jobless rate in the nation at 15.3 percent.
Niki Kelly, The Journal Gazette
nkelly@jg.net
INDIANAPOLIS - The economic hot streak is officially over, and Indiana is no longer an island of growth.
These catchphrases were plentiful when Gov. Mitch Daniels was seeking re-election, but they have now been replaced with words such as "freefall" and "danger" to describe Indiana's economy.
Even as state revenues drop and unemployment increases, the governor continues to tell Hoosiers that Indiana is in better shape than other states.
"Across America tonight, there are dozens of states that would gladly change places with Indiana," Daniels said in his State of the State speech just weeks ago.
"We are fiscally steady, they are crawling to Congress for bailouts. We are building the infrastructure of a prosperous future, they are pleading for money just to maintain the roads and bridges they have now. They are raising state taxes of all kinds, while we are holding the line. Their property taxes are exploding, while ours are coming down for good."
But lawmakers now face the reality that Indiana's situation is precarious and getting worse.
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