Sources & References
Metro Job Market Pulse · Michigan City-La Porte, IN MSA · October 2026
Every advertised-pay, job-posting and industry figure in this briefing comes from WageScape's own database of active job postings. The sources below back the external facts cited in the written analysis.
Sources cited in this report
Headline
Indiana unemployment held at 3.3%, lowest since May 2023
Indiana Department of Workforce Development — State labor market announcement, September 2026
This Month's Takeaways
Manufacturing comprises 15.5% of LaPorte County employment, avg earnings $85,907
Indiana Department of Workforce Development — County industry employment and earnings breakdown
National nonfarm payrolls added 29,000 jobs in September with downward revisions
Bureau of Labor Statistics — September 2026 employment situation report
Local Economic Conditions
Michigan City metro average hourly earnings fell 6.6% year-over-year through April 2026
Indiana University In Context — Metro-level wage comparison across Indiana MSAs
LaPorte County unemployment rate figures for 2026
Indiana Department of Workforce Development — County-level unemployment data
Looking Ahead
Owens Corning WARN notice affecting 130 employees in Walkerton, IN
Indiana WARN Act filings / LayoffData — State WARN notice tracking
How the numbers are calculated
- Advertised pay is the median of the pay ranges employers publish in active job postings in this metro. It is not survey or payroll data.
- Percent changes compare the latest six full months with the six months before that, for the same metro and sector.
- Sectors group postings by the employer's industry (NAICS) classification into ten sectors. Where a metro has too few postings in a sector, the state figure is used instead.
- Role pay trends use the same comparison windows. "Stable" means a change of less than 3%; "moderate" 3–10%; "significant" more than 10%.
Official data for comparison