Jobless rate inches upward; Lake, Porter below average for May 2009

After a small dip in April, the state's jobless rate hiked up to 10.6 percent in May according to the most recent data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.

The data show the state lost more than 15,000 jobs in May, raising the unemployment rate by 0.7 percent from April's 9.9 percent, which was down a tick from March's 10 percent.

Locally, Starke County's 14.9 percent is the highest jobless rate in Northwest Indiana, followed by LaPorte County at 11.7 percent. Lake County is right near the state average at 10.5 percent, while Porter County's rate of 9.6 percent is just higher than the national seasonally adjusted average of 9.4 percent.

"When you look at the state as a whole, the areas that are more diverse in terms of their economies are typically lower than the state and national averages," said Marc Lotter, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "Most of those areas are in Southwest Indiana and Southeast Indiana. But even Northwest Indiana is holding right at the state average. There are things going on in Northwest Indiana that are helping it weather the storm."