By Rich Davis, Evansville Courier & Press
EVANSVILLE - The Evansville area had the second-lowest unemployment rate among Indiana's major cities in December, according to preliminary figures that put the state's jobless rate at 9.9 percent, up from 9.6 percent in November.
Nationally, the rate was 10 percent.
Vanderburgh County's jobless number was 7.9 percent, that compares with 9.1 percent in Marion County (Indianapolis), 10 percent in Allen (Fort Wayne), 10.2 percent in Lake (Gary), 10.4 percent in Delaware (Muncie), 8.5 percent in Tippecanoe (Lafayette), 10.8 in St. Joseph (South Bend), 10.4 in Vigo (Terre Haute) and 14.8 in Elkhart (Elkhart). Monroe County (Bloomington) was lower at 6 percent.
Meanwhile, the state's lowest unemployment rate, 5.4 percent, could be found an hour north of Evansville in Daviess County (Washington).
"Ours has stayed the lowest since the recession began," said Charles Selby, executive director of the Daviess County Chamber of Commerce.
"We're basically an agricultural economy. We don't have large numbers tied to any one industry. Many people are either raising turkeys and corn or involved in processing it at Perdue Foods."
About 7,000 of the county's 29,000 residents are Amish, many self-employed or involved in farming.
He said the county, while not totally unaffected by the economy (it lost a GM dealership this past year), "isn't seeing the peaks and valleys."
Jobless rates for counties immediately around Evansville include Gibson (6.6 percent), Posey (7.2 percent), Warrick (7.8 percent), Pike (8.9 percent), Dubois (6.7 percent), Knox (7.1 percent), Spencer (8.7 percent) and Perry (9.0 percent).
Statewide, more than 300,000 Hoosiers were looking for work in December compared with less than 290,000 in November.
Teresa Voors, Indiana Department of Workforce Development commissioner, said more people filed unemployment claims in December after eight straight months of declines.
Some information in this story was contributed by The Associated Press.