Unemployment fell in Northwest Indiana in April, but Lake County still had the highest jobless rate in the Hoosier State by a wide margin â 1.5 percentage points higher than the runner-up. A higher percentage of people were out of work in the Region than across the rest of the state. Lake County ranked first in joblessness statewide, LaPorte County third, and Porter County 12th. Cities in north Lake County were especially hard-hit by the continuing economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than a tenth of the population was unemployed in Gary and East Chicago in April, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.Â