May Unemployment Rate Increases

 

 

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, has released the May Unemployment Report.  The rate reported for Huntington County was 3.4% up from 3.1% the previous month.  The data does indicate 146 more Huntington County residents were employed compared to April and confirmed 215 more people entered the workforce compared to April.  69 additional residents were reported as unemployed.

 

"We continue to be in a tight labor market," said Mark Wickersham, executive director of the Huntington County Economic Development Corporation.  "Nearly all our major employers are reporting they have job openings available which are going unfilled," he added.

 

According to job posting website, indeed.com, 213 job openings were listed as available on June 18, 2018, within 15 miles of the center of Huntington.  Those jobs covered all hourly and salary ranges and a variety of required skill sets.

 

The following employers were among those in Huntington County reporting openings:

 

*Continental Structural Plastics 

*Dayton Freight 

*Huntington University

*Novae Corporation

*Our Sunday Visitor

*Pathfinder Services 

 

"The Huntington County Unemployment Rate remains slightly higher than other Northeast Indiana Counties primarily as a result of the transition at UTEC," Wickersham said.  "While many of the UTEC workers have transitioned to other employers, others are in education and training programs to upskill prior to re-entering the job market.  Those individuals continue to be reflected in the unemployment data but will be returning to the workforce in the future with even stronger marketable skill sets," he concluded.