INDIANAPOLIS (WOWO): Indiana unemployment climbed above 17 percent in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unemployment stood at 17.1 percent for the state, up from the April 2019 benchmark of 2.9 percent. The jobless rate in March 2020 was at 3.2 percent.

The Fort Wayne metro area had an unemployment rate of 19.6 percent, with Allen County coming in slightly higher at 20 percent.

Elsewhere in the state, Howard County had the highest jobless rate last month at 34.1 percent.

Nationally, unemployment rose to 14.4 percent for April, up from 3.3 percent in April 2019 and from 4.5 percent in March 2020.

You can view more data provided by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development here, including county data, a county map, and city data.