Elkhart records the lowest unemployment rate in the country

The Elkhart-Goshen metropolitan area has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other areas in Indiana also have a historically very low level of jobless workers.

Each month, the Bureau of Labor statistics puts out unemployment estimates for Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or MSAs. In December, Elkhart’s MSA was calculated to have an unemployment rate of just 0.9 percent. Throughout the pandemic, employment has thrived in local manufacturing plants, mainly due to record sales of recreational vehicles.

READ MORE: Indiana has historic low unemployment, but is that always a good thing?

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Bloomington and Columbus, Indiana, both have unemployment rates of just 1 percent, and the Lafayette area is just 1.1 percent. That puts them among the lowest in the country.

Extremely low unemployment may mean companies will have an increasingly difficult time finding workers to hire. And for those few available workers? It means more negotiating power for things like better pay and sign on bonuses.

Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.