More Northwest Indiana residents had jobs in February than the same month last year, but the area still retains some of the highest unemployment rates in the state.

Newton County had the highest unemployment rate in February in Indiana at 7.5 percent, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that was released last week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

That's nearly twice as high as the state rate of 4.1 percent.

Newton was the only one of the seven counties that compose Northwest Indiana to have a year-over-year increase in unemployment, from 7.3 percent last year. All the other counties experienced improved jobs numbers since February 2016.

Still, four other counties in the area were among the top 10 in the state for unemployment last month, according to the state department. Lake County came in fourth at 6.7 percent, LaPorte fifth at 6.6 percent, Starke eighth at 6.4 percent and Jasper ninth at 6.3 percent.

Porter County's unemployment rate was 5.7 percent and Pulaski County's was 5.4 percent.

Micah Pollak, assistant professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest, said Newton County's sparse population could be a contributing factor to its increase.

“Because Newton County is so small, it has a lot greater margin of error. The number of people to file for unemployment there could have been 24, whereas in Lake County the number could have been 2,400,” Pollak said.

Anthony Sindone, clinical assistant professor of finance and economic development at Purdue University Northwest, said manufacturing is the second largest employment sector in Newton County behind farming. He said Newton manufacturing suffered a bit of a hit during 2015-16.

Sindone said there has been a major change in demographics in Northwest Indiana, another factor in its higher unemployment numbers than elsewhere in the state.

“We're seeing a decrease in population and also an aging population. That will impact the unemployment rates,” Sindone said.

He said the number of government jobs is declining throughout the region, largely due to state and local governments not filling positions vacated through attrition.

Pollak said higher unemployment numbers in counties such as Lake and LaPorte are skewed because most of the unemployment is in the larger cities such as Gary, Hammond, East Chicago and Michigan City.

The labor force statewide increased by 7,912 people over January, according to the state report. The total labor force in Indiana in February was more than 3.2 million, the report said.

Private-sector employment has grown by more than 33,000 over the year. Manufacturing gained 4,200 jobs, and trade, transportation and utilities gained 2,300. This was partially offset by 3,600 fewer jobs in leisure and hospitality, according to the state report.

“Gains in Indiana's labor force participation rate are encouraging and further growth is needed to ensure Indiana reaches its workforce potential as a state,” said Steven J. Braun, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

He said there are thousands of good-paying jobs available statewide.

Sindone said while the number of manufacturing jobs filled increased last month, it was by a relatively low rate.

He said technology will continue to displace workers in manufacturing and farming.

“Some combines are running on GPS now,” Sindone said.

Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.