Fort Wayne, Ind. – With 2012 yielding four straight months of upbeat news, Mayor Tom Henry today cheered recently released jobs numbers from the State of Indiana Department of Workforce Development. The data demonstrate the area's steady economic progress and improving employment picture.
According to April 2012 Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) information (not seasonally adjusted), the Fort Wayne area's unemployment rate is 7.3 percent. This outdistances Indiana's 7.7 percent comparable rate and beats the nation's 8.7 percent rate by nearly a point and a half.
The positive advancement in the unemployment figures is evidenced in the monthly totals, as follows: January, 9 percent; February, 8.4 percent; March, 8.2 percent; and April, 7.3 percent. For Fort Wayne alone, the April rate is the lowest since the end of 2008.
Over the same period, the number of unemployed workers fell from 18, 911 individuals in January to 15,798 in April.
"A Fort Wayne built for success is built one job at a time, and every job we secure is a victory," said Mayor Henry. "With our unemployment rate steadily falling and real gains recorded on the employment front, we are proving again and again why Fort Wayne is a great place to start and grow a business."
This latest employment report enhances the list of encouraging economic activity for the community and the state, including:
· Groundbreaking for Franklin Electric Company, Inc.'s new corporate headquarters;
· Rapid construction of new downtown Fort Wayne housing with action on The Harrison and the AWB Building, along with high interest in both residential options;
· Indiana Tech's groundbreaking for Fort Wayne's first law school;
· Grand opening of Parkview Regional Medical Center's new campus and the addition of a fifth floor to Lutheran Hospital;
· University of Saint Francis's investment in downtown with the purchase of the Scottish Rite Center, renaming it the USF Performing Arts Center;
· Dedicated implementation of the initiative to streamline development permitting, ensuring Fort Wayne and Allen County are more welcoming to business;
· A Bloomberg report showing Indiana leading the country in job creation in April with an employment gain of 17, 100; and
· The Fiscal Times designation of Fort Wayne at the close of 2011 as the city with the highest job growth rate in the United States.
"While all of this news is exciting and energizing, there is still much work to be done," added Mayor Henry. "Together with our economic development partners at The Alliance, we continue to do everything in our power to make our community the most attractive and competitive destination for good jobs, talented workers and business investment. Growing our economy remains our top priority."
Fort Wayne 2012 city unemployment data over the same period mirrors the MSA's trends, as follows: January, 9.4 percent; February, 9 percent; March 8.8 percent, and April, 8 percent.
Unemployment in January within the city was 11,870, decreasing to 10,298 in April, revealing a workforce upsurge of 1,572.
A comparison of just four months of 2012 statistics with 2011 economic development activity as recorded by the Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance illustrates the quickening of this year's economic pace:
· 9,219 jobs retained;
· 1,595 jobs created;
· A projected investment of almost $500 million; and
· Over the past three years, during the worst of the Great Recession, Fort Wayne saw nearly $1 billion of private investment.