January Unemployment Remains Flat
Indiana’s unemployment rate remained unchanged in January at 3.5 percent. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says private sector employment in the state hit a new preliminary record high for the fourth consecutive month.
The DWD notes that the December 2018 unemployment rate was revised from 3.6 percent to 3.5 percent during the annual benchmarking process. Unemployment for January remains below the national rate, which rose to 4 percent last month.
According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indiana’s labor force participation rate stands at 65.1 percent, nearly two percent higher than the national rate.
Indiana added 7,200 private sector jobs in January, bringing the preliminary record employment total to 2,739,300 jobs. The majority of the gains in private sector employment came from the private educational and health services and the trade, transportation and utilities sectors.
Of the surrounding states, Indiana remains the only one to have an unemployment rate below 4 percent. Only Minnesota and Wisconsin have lower unemployment rates in the Midwest with each of them being at 3 percent.
You can connect to more about Indiana’s unemployment rate from the Department of Workforce Development by clicking here.