Unemployment rates remain higher than last year in Lake and Porter counties.
Lake County's February unemployment rate was 6.7 percent, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. That's up from 6.2 percent in February 2024. Porter County's unemployment rate was 5.2 percent last month, up from 4.8 percent during the same period last year.
Still, the number of residents working went up, as more residents entered the labor force. Six of the 12 counties with the highest unemployment rates in the state were in Northwest Indiana. When it comes to individual communities, Gary has the highest unemployment rate of Indiana's major cities at 9.9 percent, followed by East Chicago at 8.2 percent.
