Spencer and Perry County both had unemployment rates of more than 8% during March.

Statistics released by Indiana Workforce Development show Perry County at 8.3% while Spencer County has a rate of 8.2%.  Both rates remain below the state average.  In fact, all extreme southwest Indiana counties remained below the state average.

Vanderburgh and Pike Counties also had rates of over 8% but nearby Dubois County had the lowest jobless rate in Indiana at 6.3%.

Overall, Indiana’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged in March at 8.7 percent, halting a recent upward trend. The Hoosier State, which has more manufacturing jobs as a part of our private sector than any other state in the U.S. (19.7 percent of Indiana’s private sector), experienced another month of increase in manufacturing jobs, production hours and durable goods production employment. All of which may point to sustained growth and future expansion potential.

For their 2013 season, Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort in Santa Claus is investing approximately $4 million in additions and improvements.

Lake Rudolph is adding five new water slides in a complex called Santa's Splash Down WaterPark. Two are fiberglass slides that were previously owned by Holiday World & Splashin' Safari. In addition, an inflatable water slide called the Trippo® will feature three slides. The water slides will open during the 2013 summer season.

The first fiberglass slide will be open and partially enclosed with a length of 344 feet. The second slide will be enclosed and 296 feet long. Both fiberglass slides will use inner tubes. At three stories tall, the Trippo is the world's largest inflatable water slide. It will be a wet slide in summer and may be used as a dry slide during non-summer months. The longest and center slide is 136 feet in length and the side slides are 113 feet long.

The number of Indiana businesses willing to sell alcohol to minors continues to be at an all-time low as a result of inspections by Indiana State Excise Police.

From Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2012, excise officers working with underage youth in the Survey for Alcohol Compliance conducted 9,978 inspections, with 504 failures – a 5.204% failure rate. That’s down slightly from a 5.591% failure rate in 2011.

Just one Perry County business out of 16 sold to an underage buyer during inspections.  Last year, the county recorded no underage sales.  In 2010, one out of four had failed in its efforts to check ID.

In Spencer County, one of eight sold to an underage buyer during last year's inspections, compared to two out of 35 in 2011.