Local unemployment rates moved higher following the holiday period, but they're still lower than last January's numbers. Lake County's January unemployment rate jumped to 4.2 percent, up from 2.8 percent the month before but down from 7.9 percent in January of 2021. Porter County's unemployment rate rose a percentage point to 2.6 percent, roughly half of what it was last January.
But the number of residents in the labor force declined from January 2021, although it saw a slight uptick from the previous month. Lake County continues to have Indiana's highest unemployment rate. The rate is particularly high in Gary and East Chicago, at 6.4 percent.
