According to findings by the Northwest Indiana Workforce Board (NWIWB), job orders posted by companies through the state WorkOne system have risen dramatically in March. Indiana Career Connect (ICC), the state’s online labor exchange, showed a 40% increase in the number of open and available jobs in Northwest Indiana last month. At the beginning of March, there were a little more than 1,000 open and available positions in ICC. As of Thursday, April 1, 2010, there were more than 1,400 open and available job postings, an increase of 400.

Concurrent with the NWIWB findings, the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced that jobless claims for the nation are down and several national online job search websites, such as Monster and Indeed, have reported that their job postings are up across the board. The Monster Employment Index for March 2010 is up 6 percent as compared to the same time last year. The local, state, and national unemployment rates are still elevated and have risen slightly this year so far. However, if companies follow through and fill these positions, the unemployment rate should fall accordingly.