FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) – The Fort Wayne metro area is seeing a much brighter jobs picture compared to last summer.

New numbers from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development show the region’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in July, down from 5.6% a year ago. That shift means nearly 4,000 more people in Allen County and the surrounding area are working. The number of unemployed workers dropped by about 30%, falling from more than 13,200 in July 2024 to just over 9,200 last month.

Allen County’s unemployment rate came in at 4%, lower than the statewide non-seasonally adjusted average of 4.2%. Regionally, Wells County posted the lowest unemployment rate at 3.3%, while Grant County had the highest in the area at 5.1%. Noble, Steuben, and LaGrange counties also reported unemployment rates above the state average.

Across Indiana, Howard County reported the highest unemployment rate at 6.9%, followed by Lake County at 5.4%. On the other end of the spectrum, Union County had the lowest at 3.1%, with Martin County close behind at 3.2%.

Rachel Blakeman, director of the Purdue University Fort Wayne Community Research Institute, said the year-over-year decline is more telling than the month-to-month fluctuations.

“Last year and this year we saw July unemployment rates go above where they were the month before,” Blakeman explained. “Since the numbers aren’t adjusted for seasonal variations at the local level, this bump is not surprising as it may reflect the cyclical nature of the job market within a calendar year. What’s more important is the reduction compared to a year ago, showing that the job market, albeit weaker than two or three years ago, remains relatively strong on a regional scale. It’s comforting to see that many counties, although certainly not all, have more people working than a year ago.”