Unemployment rate ticks down in NWI for August 2008

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

A strong construction market and steel mills meeting global demand continue to help Northwest Indiana weather the national economic slump.

The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the region dipped to 5.7 percent in August, compared to the July rate of 5.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Non-farm payrolls in the region increased to 280,600 in August, an increase of 2,100 jobs over the July figure of 278,500 jobs.

The unemployment rate of 5.7 percent compares to a state non-seasonally adjusted rate of 6.1 percent. The seasonally adjusted rate for Indiana in August was 6.4 percent.

The seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in August.

Northwest Indiana has not been insulated from the national economic slump, but unemployment is rising slower here than in the rest of the nation.

One year ago, the unemployment rate in Northwest Indiana stood at 4.5 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of people out of work has increased to 19,200, as compared to 15,100 one year ago.

Two areas of Indiana, the Elkhart area and Kokomo, led the nation in jobless rate increases in the past year.

In Elkhart, the unemployment rate soared to 9.3 percent in August from just 4.5 percent one year ago. The Elkhart area, a national leader in recreational vehicle manufacturing, has been devastated by a slump in sales that began more than one year ago.

In Kokomo, the unemployment rate soared to 9.2 percent from 4.8 percent one year ago. In Kokomo, auto and auto parts manufacturing have been the culprit, with U.S. carmakers' sales slumping badly.