Unemployment benefits reduced for Hoosiers

The latest unemployment numbers are out, and the news isn't necessarily good for Indiana!

The jobless rate dropped to 8.7 percent in January.

That's slightly higher than the national average, but because the workforce has rebounded to pre-recession levels, Hoosiers are no longer eligible for 99 weeks of benefits.

"Our rate needs to be 110 percent higher than it was three years ago, which means that Indiana’s rate would need to be nine or above. And since our rate is now below that, we are no longer eligible," said Valerie Kroeger of Workforce Development.

Now Hoosiers will only be eligible for 79 weeks of payments.

The change takes effect April 15.

Here are the latest unemployment numbers for St. Joseph, Elkhart, LaPorte and Kosciusko counties!

Right now, the jobless rate is 11.2 in Elkhart, 10 in St. Joseph County, 11.1 in LaPorte, and 8.4 in Kosciusko County.

You can see that every county improved over last year, but most have a ways to go to catch up with the state average.

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