Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for September and remains lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent. With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana’s unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for nearly five years.
Graphic provided
The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.
Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 4,564 over the previous month. This was a result of a 337 decrease in unemployed residents and an increase of 4,901 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.39 million, and the state’s 65.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.7 percent.
In addition, the number of Indiana’s ongoing regular unemployment insurance claims is the lowest since 1976, when UI claims were first recorded.
Click here to learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated.
Employment by sector
Private sector employment has grown by more than 26,400 over the year, and has increased by 2,500 over the previous month, primarily due to gains in Trade, Transportation and Utilities (2,400) and the Other (1,700), which includes Mining and Logging, IT and Other Services sectors.
Gains were partially offset by losses in the Manufacturing (-1,300) and the Private Educational and Health Services (-1,000) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,710,900 and is 22,000 above the December 2017 peak.
Data are sourced from September Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. September employment data for Indiana Counties, cities and MSAs will be available at noon on Monday, Oct. 22 pending U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics validation.