In January the unemployment rate in Porter County spiked again, as it continues to top the national average.

According to data released on Friday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, in January the unemployment rate in Porter County hit 9.2 percent, compared to the national rate in the same period of 8.5 percent. It was still marginally lower than the state rate of 9.9 percent.

Disturbingly, Porter County’s 9.2 percent unemployment rate in January represents a significant increase of nearly two full points over the 7.4 percent rate in December 2008, the greatest monthly uptick since the rate started galloping last fall (4.5 percent in October, 5.8 percent in November). And that 9.2 percent rate represents better than a doubling of the 4.3 rate in January 2008.

Meanwhile, in Chesterton the unemployment rate hit 9.0 percent in January, compared to only 4.0 percent in the year-ago period. Over the fourth quarter of 2008 the unemployment rate in Chesterton climbed steadily and at a much faster pace than the national rate did: 4.1 percent in October (6.1 percent nationwide), 5.6 percent in November (6.5 percent nationwide), 7.3 percent in December (7.1 percent nationwide).

Data for the towns of Porter and Burns Harbor were not available.

Valparaiso’s unemployment rate in January was slightly lower than Chesterton’s, 8.0 percent (6.5 percent in December, 5.4 percent in November, 4.6 percent in October, and 3.9 percent in January 2008).

Portage’s unemployment rate in January, on the other hand, was appreciably higher than Chesterton’s: 10.7 percent (9.0 percent in December, 7.4 percent in November, 5.7 percent in October, and 4.9 percent in January 2008).

In Lake County the overall unemployment rate hit double digits in January, 10.0 percent, compared to 8.6 percent in December and 5.5 in the year-ago period.

In Gary the unemployment rate rose to 10.7 percent, comparable to Portage’s (9.8 percent in December, 9.1 percent in November, 7.7 percent in October, and 6.3 percent in January 2008).

Perhaps a better way to measure the human toll of unemployment in Porter County is to consider the actual number of people in the labor force looking for work. In January 2008, with an unemployment rate of 4.3 percent, 3,513 folks were unemployed. A year later in Porter County fully 7,785 were unemployed, an increase of 122 percent. Between December (6,137 jobless) and January, the number of unemployed rose by 27 percent; between November (4,802 jobless) and December, by 28 percent; and between October (3,799 jobless) and November, by 26 percent.

In January 2008, with an unemployment rate of 4.0 percent, 267 folks were unemployed in Chesterton. A year later 616 were unemployed, an increase of 131 percent. Between December (493 jobless) and January, the number of unemployed rose by 25 percent; between November (380 jobless) and December, by 30 percent; and between October (276 jobless) and November, by 38 percent.

In Valparaiso 1,254 people were unemployed in January, compared to 591 in the year-ago period, an increase of 112 percent. In Portage, 1,997 were unemployed in January, compared to 877 in the year-ago period, an increase of 128 percent.

Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, attributed the rise in unemployment in the state to several factors. “Manufacturing declines continue to impact industrial Midwestern states,” she said. “Employment dropped in transportation and wholesale and retail sectors in Indiana in January, and there was a greater than usual decline in retail employment following the holiday shopping season.

Ohio’s unemployment rate in January was 8.8 percent; Michigan’s, 11.6 percent.

Posted 3/10/2009