New claims for unemployment benefits in Indiana have continued to rise slightly for three weeks in a row. At the same time, the number of people continuing to get benefits is slowly decreasing.
Preliminary data from the Department of Labor shows that more than 30,000 new applications for unemployment benefits were received last week. That number will most likely be revised slightly downward, but it places the weekly growth in new claims as the third-largest spike in the country behind California and Maryland.
About two-thirds of those were for federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for people who are self-employed or have limited work history.
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Meanwhile, 37 Indiana counties have an unemployment rate higher than the state, many of them with manufacturing-intensive economies. Howard County, where Kokomo is located, has the highest unemployment rate where it’s estimated that 1 out of 5 workers are jobless.
Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.