WASHINGTON – Unemployment in the Elkhart-Goshen area hit 18 percent in February, higher than all but three other metropolitan areas in the nation, the government said Wednesday.
Only three areas in California – El Centro, with 24.5 percent unemployed; Merced, 19.9 percent; and Yuba City, 18.9 percent – had a higher percentage of people out of jobs than the northern Indiana communities, where layoffs in the RV industry have caused unemployment to skyrocket from 5.5 percent a year ago.
Fort Wayne’s unemployment rate of 9.9 percent was nearly double the 5.3 percent a year ago and up slightly from 9.3 percent in January.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said unemployment rates were higher in February than a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan areas measured.
Fourteen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15 percent; 20 areas registered rates of less than 5 percent.
The national unemployment rate in February was 8.9 percent, up from 5.2 percent a year earlier. Indiana’s jobless rate was 10.1 percent.
