The Unemployment rate for Indiana County in the month of January went down, but not by much.
According to the State Department of Labor and Statistics, the county’s unemployment rate for the month of January is 5.7%, that’s down a tenth of a percentage point from December. Over the last twelve months, the area’s unemployment rate fell six-tenths of a percentage point.
Comparing Indiana County with the state’s unemployment rate, Indiana is above the state wide average, which is holding steady at 4.8%. Among our neighbors, Westmoreland County is the lowest with 5.0%, followed by Jefferson County at 5.2%, Clearfield County at 5.4%, Cambria County at 5.5%, and Armstrong is the highest in the area at 5.9%
Indiana County tied with three other counties with the 50th lowest unemployment rate among the 67 counties. The lowest reported unemployment rate was Chester County with 3.5%
Total non-farm jobs decreased 2000 jobs to 30,500 in December. In our area, the state government sector saw the largest over-the-month decrease in jobs due to winter break at IUP.
