Indiana County’s unemployment rate went up in the month of December.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry reported that Indiana County’s unemployment rate in December was 6.3 percent. That represents an increase in five-tenths of a percentage point from November. Over the last year Indiana County’s unemployment rate went up 1.4 percentage points.
The statewide unemployment rate increased in December by two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.5 percent. Indiana County tied with Fulton County at 53rd out of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
Among the neighboring counties, Westmoreland County had the lowest unemployment rate at 5.0 percent. Cambria had a 5.6 percent unemployment rate in December. Jefferson County’s unemployment rate was 6 percent. Clearfield checked in with a 6.2 percent unemployment rate and Armstrong County had the highest in the region at 6.4 percent.
The total number of non-farm jobs in Indiana County went down by 300 to 32,600, but the Department of Labor and Industry said that this was an expected move. Over the year, jobs were essentially unchanged in Indiana County.
