Elkhart County unemployment for September 2008 more than double 2007's rate

A year ago looks pretty good right now.

Elkhart County's jobless rate was 9.3 percent in September, according to preliminary figures released Tuesday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. That's more than double the September 2007 rate of 4.2 percent.

The county jobless rate also edged up from the revised August estimate of 8.9 percent.

Last month, 9,525 workers out of a 102,838-person labor force were out of a job. In August, 9,191 workers were jobless out of a 103,618-person work force.

The labor force numbered 101,205 workers in September 2007, with 4,285 people jobless.

Elkhart County's unemployment rate is higher than the seasonally adjusted national rate of 6.1 percent and the state rate of 6.2 percent.

Goshen

The city of Goshen's September jobless rate also stood at 9.3 percent, up from September 2007's 4.1 percent. In August, Goshen's unemployment rate was 8.9 percent.

The Maple City's labor force totaled 16,176, with 1,507 people out of work. In September 2007, those numbers were 15,890 and 654, respectively.

Elkhart

The city of Elkhart's jobless rate topped 10 percent two months in a row - 10.8 percent in September and 10.4 percent in August, according to Workforce Development. In September 2007, the city's unemployment rate was 5.7 percent.