ELKHART — The recession's grip appears to be loosening as seasonal hiring picked up this spring. That's the conclusion of the Associated Press' monthly analysis of the economic pain in more than 3,100 U.S. counties. It’s a glimmer of hope for the future in hard-hit Elkhart County.

The latest results of the AP's Economic Stress Index show the free fall that marked the autumn of 2008 and winter of 2009 gave way in April to a more controlled descent, possibly even a bottom. Still, the analysis found that pain remains high compared with year-ago levels.

Three out of the five biggest increases in stress from April 2008 to April 2009 were northern Indiana counties that have been devastated by manufacturing cutbacks. LaGrange and Elkhart counties both saw 12.8 point increases as unemployment soared by double digits. Neighboring Noble County saw its Stress score jump by 11.1 points.

But from March to April this year, Elkhart County’s score dropped nearly a point. Unemployment was down and bankruptcies and foreclosures were still rising, but not as fast.

“Some people have been going back to work,” said Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore. “Obviously this time of the year the construction industry starts up, there's been a bit of an upturn in retail sales as well so all those things enter into that and it's nice to know it's not going the other way.”

But Moore said the “pain relievers” do little for those still in the unemployment line and insisted there is still work to be done.

“We're still pretty close to one out of every five of Elkhart's available workforce who is still out of work,” said Moore.

Last week, the city began an airport runway expansion project using stimulus money. Moore said 200 people would be put to work on the project.

The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on each county's rate of unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy, with lower numbers indicating less economic pain. The average Stress Index score dipped to 9.7 in April, from 10.3 in March. In April 2008, the national average was 5.9.