COLUMBUS, Ind. — Unemployment in Bartholomew County ticked down last month while the local labor force remained below pre-pandemic levels.
The jobless rate in Bartholomew County stood at 1.9% last month, down from 2.3% in November but up from 1.2% in December 2021, according to figures released this week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Indiana’s jobless rate in December was a seasonally adjusted 3.1%, just a notch up from 3% the previous month and up slightly from 2.7% in December 2021. U.S. unemployment stood at 3.5% last month, down slightly from 3.6% in November and 3.9% in December 2021.
At the same time, the the local labor force in December continued to be significantly lower than pre-pandemic levels. Last month, Bartholomew County’s labor force stood at 43,738, up from 42,442 in December 2021 but down from 45,418 in December 2019, before the pandemic struck.
The update from state officials came just days before the federal government reported that the U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9% annual pace from October through December, The Associated Press reported.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
