Edwards County Unemployment Hits 11% as Champion Closure Erases 650 Manufacturing Jobs
Updated
Updated · WFIW · Jun 8
Edwards County Unemployment Hits 11% as Champion Closure Erases 650 Manufacturing Jobs
1 articles · Updated · WFIW · Jun 8
Summary
Edwards County posted the region’s highest April unemployment rate at 11%, improving from 14.9% in March but jumping from 3.2% a year earlier.
950 nonfarm jobs disappeared across the Olney-Mount Carmel labor market from April 2025, with manufacturing alone down 650 jobs largely because Champion Laboratories shut its Albion plant.
Wayne County recorded 5.2% unemployment, Wabash and Lawrence 4.6%, Richland 3.9% and Clay 4.0%, showing March improvement in several counties even as most remained above year-ago levels.
Edwards County’s jobless rate has risen 7.8 percentage points over the past year, underscoring how the plant closure continues to drive the area’s labor-market weakness.