Howard County June unemployment at 5.5%

Tyler Juranovich, Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
·1 min read

Jul. 25—Howard County's unemployment rate continues to be higher than the state average and one of the highest in the state but also continues to fall year-over-year.

The county's June non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.5%, according to figures released Monday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD). That's compared to 6.3% in June 2022. The county's May 2023 non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4%.

Still, the county's 5.5% is second highest in the state, behind only Lake County's 5.8% unemployment rate. It's also much higher than the state average. Indiana's non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June is 3.7%, and its seasonally-adjusted rate 3.2%.

Miami and Tipton counties had June unemployment rates of 4.3% and 3%, respectively.

Notably, the labor force of the Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard County, and the number of employed workers are lower than what it was this time last year.

According to the DWD, the Kokomo MSA's June labor force total was 33,049. That's lower than it reported in June 2022 when it was 34,463.

Total employed workers for the Kokomo MSA was 31,216 in June. That's compared to 32,281 this same time last year.

The Kokomo MSA was not alone in experiencing a labor force decrease. Many other of the state's large MSAs, including Muncie, Bloomington and Elkhart-Goshen, experienced year-over-year decreases. Others, including Columbus, Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson and Fort Wayne, saw increases.

Tyler Juranovich can be reached at 765-454-8577, by email at tyler.juranovich@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @tylerjuranovich.