Northwest Indiana is catching up with the rest of the nation in enjoying a healthy jobs market.
In May, the unemployment rate in Northwest Indiana fell more sharply than in any region of the United States that is considered part of a large metropolitan area, according to a
U.S. Department of Labor report out Wednesday.
Unemployment fell to 4.4 percent last month from 5.5 percent in May of 2006, for the region made up of Lake, Porter, Jasper and Newton counties, according to the Department of Labor's monthly metropolitan employment and unemployment report.
The construction industry is anticipating one of its strongest summers in years, though demand in May and June fell short of expectations, according to Dewey Pearman,
Construction Advancement Foundation executive director.
"We still have a looming labor shortage we expect to occur this year," Pearman said.
Projects at the
BP refinery, Horseshoe Casino, area steel mills and hospitals are driving up demand for skilled trades jobs, Pearman said.
The unemployment rate has not been this low in Northwest Indiana since September of 2001.
The national unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in May. The unemployment rate for Indiana was 4.3 percent.
Lake, Porter, Jasper and Newton counties are counted by the Labor Department as part of the Chicago metropolitan area, one of the country's 11 most populous metropolitan areas.
A count of jobs at Northwest Indiana workplaces in May showed 284,300 people at work in the four counties, an increase of 2,100 from May 2006, according to the Labor Department.
Part of the decrease was due to a less-hopeful trend. The number of people counted in Northwest Indiana's work force dropped to 332,800 in May, as compared to 337,500 at this time last year.
That is about a 1.4 percent drop in the number of people ready, willing and able to work and could indicate working age people are continuing to leave the area, officials said.