Rural unemployment offices cut days for people in Newton and Jasper counties

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

As unemployment surges upward in Northwest Indiana, jobless people in two rural counties will have to travel further for state unemployment services some days of the week.

Effective Jan. 5, the WorkOne in Morocco, in Newton County, will be closed on Thursdays and Fridays, the Center of Workforce Innovations reported. The WorkOne in Winamac, in Jasper County, will be closed on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

The reduced schedules at the two WorkOne offices are in the interest of efficiency, said Barbara Grimsgard, communications manager for the Center of Workforce Innovations.

On the days the Morocco and Winimac WorkOnes are closed, people can go to other WorkOne offices for services. The nearest one to Morocco is the WorkOne Express in Rensselaer, which is 16 miles away. The nearest one to Winimac is in Knox, which is 17 miles away.

The unemployment rate in Indiana surged to 7.1 percent in November from just 6.4 percent the month before. The national rate is 6.7 percent.

That surge in unemployment has forced the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to borrow $330 million from the federal government.

Workforce Development Deputy Commissioner John Ruckelshaus said the limited schedules at the Morocco and Winimac WorkOne offices are not related to the state's budget woes. The schedule reductions are not taking place statewide.

WorkOnes offer employment services, training and unemployment benefits to Indiana residents. The program is jointly administered by the state and contractors including the Center of Workforce Innovations.