By Barry Lewis, The Paper of Montgomery County Assistant Publisher
For the third month in a row, the Montgomery County unemployment rate rose. The preliminary figures for the month of December from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development show the county's rate at 10.2 percent.
The December numbers were released Friday and revealed the state's unemployment rate rose from 9.6 percent to 9.9 percent.
Montgomery County's figure from November had been reported at 9.9 percent last month but it was revised down to 9.8 percent meaning the country's rate rose 0.4 percent in the final month of the year.
"Indiana and its Midwest neighbors each reported increases or remained virtually flat in December," said Teresa Voors, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. "The two largest factors in the December Employment Report are a drop in construction employment, possibly attributed to the weather, and an increase in the number of unemployment claims following eight straight months of decline."
According to the state statistics, Montgomery County had a loss of 216 in the number of employed individuals from November (16,700) to December (16,484).
Last year, Montgomery County had an increase in its unemployment rate from 5.8 percent in November to 6.6 percent in December.
The county rate reached a high in August when it was 11.1 percent.
December's increase was the third-straight month the county saw an increase in its unemployment rate. Over the past three months, the unemployment rate has climbed 0.8 percent from the 9.4 percent it was in September.
While Montgomery County saw its rate go up by 0.4 percent, five of the seven surrounding counties also saw an increase of that percentage or more. None of the counties had a decrease in their rate. Tippecanoe County's rate went up .2 percent to 8.5 and Boone County saw its rate rise by 0.3 percent to 7.5.
The current rates for surrounding counties are: Fountain (11.5, up 0.5 percent), Parke (10.0, up 0.6), Clinton (9.9, up 0.8), Putnam (9.6, up 0.9) and Hendricks (7.9, up 0.4).
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