Unemployment in Bartholomew County dropped last month to its lowest level on record amid an increasingly tight labor market, according to data released Wednesday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
In December, the jobless rate in the county stood at 1% — the lowest since at least January 1990 and down from 1.6% in November, state records show. Unemployment in Indiana was a seasonally adjusted 2.7%, down from 3% the month before.
Surrounding counties had similarly low unemployment rates, with Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties each having jobless rates between 1% and 1.4%.
A total of 19 counties in Indiana — including neighboring Johnson County — had unemployment rates of 0.9% or less.
By comparison, the average local jobless rate in Bartholomew County was 4.3% from 1990 to 2019, with notable spikes around the time of the Great Recession.
In the year leading up to the pandemic, unemployment hovered between 2% and 2.7% before the virus sent the local economy into a tailspin in spring 2020. The local jobless rate has decreased in 16 of the previous 20 months since reaching a high of just over 17% in April 2020.
The update from state officials came after the federal government reported that the nation’s unemployment rate fell in December to 3.9% — a pandemic low — even as employers added a modest 199,000 jobs, evidence that they are struggling to fill jobs, The Associated Press reported.
The drop in the jobless rate, from 4.2% in November, indicated that many more people found work last month. Indeed, despite the slight hiring gain reported by businesses, 651,000 more workers said they were employed in December compared with November.
Still, the data reported earlier this month by the Labor Department reflected the state of the job market in early December — before the spike in COVID-19 infections began to disrupt the economy, according to wire reports. Economists have cautioned that job growth may slow in January and possibly February because of omicron cases, which have forced millions of newly-infected workers to stay home and quarantine. The economy is still about 3.6 million jobs short of its pre-pandemic levels.
For now, steady hiring is being driven by strong consumer demand that has remained resilient despite chronic supply shortages. Consumer spending and business purchases of equipment are likely propelling the economy to a robust annual growth rate of roughly 7% in the final three months of 2021. Americans’ confidence in the economy rose slightly in December, according to the Conference Board, suggesting that spending was probably healthy for much of last month.
However, many businesses still can’t find as many workers as they need, according to the AP. In November, employers posted 10.6 million job openings, the sixth straight month above 10 million — a level never reached until this year in data going back to 2000. For every unemployed American, there are now 1.4 jobs.
Contributing to the diminished supply of workers have been an increase in early retirements since the pandemic struck and a drop in immigration, according to wire reports. In addition, some Americans are wary about returning to work in an unpredictable health crisis. And others are struggling to find child care at a time when its cost and availability have become problematic and school schedules have been disrupted by COVID.
More broadly through the economy, though, job growth will likely take a big hit this month from the omicron variant, which has sickened millions of Americans, forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights, reduced traffic at restaurants and bars, and caused some major school systems to close, potentially keeping some parents at home with children and unable to work, according to wire reports.
That could make it even harder for companies to remain fully staffed and could slow the economy, too. For those who aren’t paid — about one-fifth of the U.S. workforce lacks sick leave — their jobs won’t be counted by the government. That would lower the employment gain reported by businesses for January.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
