Lake County continues to have Indiana's highest unemployment rate. Lake County's May unemployment rate was 4.2 percent, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, up from 3.9 percent the month before. Porter County's rate stayed just above the state average, going from 2.3 percent in April to 2.7 in May.
Unemployment remains particularly high in Gary and East Chicago.
But those numbers don't tell the whole story. The actual number of people employed also increased from April to May, going up by more than 1,200 in Lake County and almost 500 in Porter County. That's as the labor force continues to grow, meaning more people appear to be looking for work.
Last month's unemployment rates are much lower than they were in May of 2021.