Unemployment in Bartholomew County ticked up slightly in January after falling to its lowest level on record the month before, according to data released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
In January, the jobless rate in the county stood at 1.9%, up from a revised 1.2% in December and down from 4.1% in January 2021, state records show. Despite the increase, January’s unemployment was still tied for the fifth lowest rate since 1990.
Indiana’s unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in January — the lowest rate on record since 1976, when the current method of compiling unemployment rates began.
“We’re still at full employment,” said Jason Hester, president of the Greater Columbus (Indiana) Economic Development Corp. “I’ve never seen numbers this low like last month and this month.”
Surrounding counties also had similarly low unemployment rates, with Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties each having jobless rates between 2.6% and 1.9%.
A total of 29 counties in Indiana — including Bartholomew and Jackson counties — had unemployment rates of 2% or less in January.
The update from state officials came a month after the federal government reported a burst of hiring in January, with U.S. employers adding a robust 467,000 jobs, a sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of a wave of omicron infections, The Associated Press reported.
The government’s report also drastically revised up its estimate of job gains for November and December by a combined 709,000, according to wire reports.
The solid hiring, along with steady wage gains, are boosting consumer spending, which has collided with snarled supply chains to accelerate inflation to a four-decade high.
Adjusted for price increases, Americans’ paychecks on average don’t go as far as they did a year ago, even though many workers have received raises, according to wire reports. Many households, especially lower-income families, are struggling to afford necessities like gas, food, rent and child care.
However, the overall outlook for the job market remains bright, with openings near a record high, the pace of layoffs down and the unemployment rate having already reached a healthy level, according to wire reports..
The nation gained more jobs last year, adjusted for the size of the workforce, than in any year since 1978. Much of that improvement represented a rebound from record job losses in 2020 that were driven by the pandemic recession.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
