Recently-released labor statistics for Northeast Indiana show what analysts say is a “softening” of the job market, as opposed to the same period of time in 2024.
The new data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development does not take into account the thousands of federal jobs axed by the Trump administration in the weeks since he took office.
Region 3 consists of Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Grant, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells, and Whitley counties.
Nine of those counties were below Indiana’s 4.5 percent unemployment rate. Wabash County matched it, and Grant county was about 5 percent.
Fort Wayne’s metro area had risen from 3.7 percent last year to 4.2 percent, and the pool of available workers increased by nearly 7,000.
Rachel Blakeman, the director of Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Community Research Institute said the weaker job market is concerning, but not alarming.
She said that President Trump’s tariffs could have a negative impact on the auto industry, a leading employer in Allen County specifically.
