Where does Elkhart County's unemployment rate rank nationwide?

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By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Feb 2, 2009 at 3:42 PM EST

Story Updated: Mar 4, 2009 at 3:22 PM EST

ELKHART — Elkhart County has the high unemployment in the state.

Cory Reinhardt of Goshen has a Good Question: Where does Elkhart County rank in the country as far as their 15.3 percent unemployment rate?

The lines are long — people in Elkhart County waiting to file for unemployment benefits. But the list of available jobs is short, for an area so hard hit by all the RV industry layoffs. There are parts of the country getting it worse, but not many.

We can't compare Elkhart County’s latest 15 percent unemployment rate for December to the rest of the country yet. That's because the U.S. Labor Department says they won't have those comparison numbers out until later this month. But we can compare the November numbers.

At that point Elkhart County’s unemployment hit 12.4 percent; 3,077 counties across the country were in better shape. Only 61 counties had higher unemployment, and because of Elkhart County’s higher population only four of those counties actually had more unemployed people.

In case you're wondering, at 23.4 percent, Imperial County, Calif. had the highest unemployment.

Later this week, we should have a better idea of how hard metropolitan areas are getting hit, specifically Elkhart. The U.S. Labor Department will release its later unemployment numbers for cities on Wednesday.

So, how can you help the growing number people in need?

WSBT-TV, the WSBT Radio Stations, and the South Bend Tribune have launched an effort to help the "Neighbors In Need" in our local communities. Find out how to help and what to do if your family needs help.

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