Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.6 percent for March and remains lower than the national rate of 3.8 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 more than five years. 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.
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Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 6,769 over the previous month. This was a result of an increase of 2,634 unemployed residents and an increase of 4,135 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.41 million, and the state’s 65.3 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 63 percent.
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Employment by sector
Private sector employment has grown by 38,100 over the year and 5,300 over the previous month. The monthly increase is primarily due to gains in the Professional and Business Services (1,200), the Leisure and Hospitality (1,100) and the Financial Activities (1,000) sectors. Gains were partially offset by a loss in the Other (-300), which includes Mining and Logging, IT and Other Services, sector. Total private employment reached a preliminary record highpoint of 2,750,400, which is 18,300 above the December 2018 peak. The March 2019 peak, like all data within this report, is subject to monthly revisions and annual benchmarking.
Data are sourced from March Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. March employment data for Indiana counties, cities and MSAs will be available at noon on Monday, April 22 pending U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics validation.