Jackson County’s unemployment rate stood at 3.4% in February, rising from 3.2% in February 2023, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce’s latest reported released Monday.

Overall, 21,709 county residents were on the job during February of this year. That’s 232 less than in February 2023 when 21,941 county residents were working.

The February 2024 rate, which is preliminary, also was 0.3% higher than the final January 2024 rate of 3.1%.

The number of county residents reporting they were looking for work in February was 766 compared to 734 who were looking for work during the same month a year earlier.

The county’s labor force was 22,475 in February, which is 200 less than labor force during the same month in 2023.

The county’s unemployment rate for February was lower than the state’s rate of 4.2% and the national rate which also was 4.2%. Jackson County’s rate was lower than any of the surrounding counties.

Other counties and their preliminary unemployment rates for February were Bartholomew, 3.7%; Brown, 4.0%; Jennings, 4.7%; Lawrence, 4.8%; Monroe, 4.4%; Scott, 4.5%; and Washington, 4.1%.

Gibson County had the lowest rate in the state at 3.0% in February, and Lake County had the highest at 6.0%.