October Indiana Employment Report

Private Sector Employment Reaches Preliminary Record Peak

Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for October 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 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.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 5,303 over the previous month. This was a result of a 2,411 increase in unemployed residents and an increase of 2,892 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.40 million, and the state’s 65.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.9 percent.

Learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated here: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/infographics/employment-status.asp.

Employment by Sector

Private sector employment has grown by more than 25,500 over the year, and has increased by 3,400 over the previous month, primarily due to gains in the Private Educational and Health Services (2,500) and the Construction (1,500) sectors. Gains were partially offset by losses in the Leisure and Hospitality (-2,500) and the Other (-100), which includes Mining and Logging, IT and Other Services sectors. Total private employment reached a preliminary record highpoint of 2,713,200, which is 24,300 above the official December 2017 peak. The new October 2018 peak, like all data within this report, is subject to monthly revisions and annual benchmarking. In addition, preliminary Construction jobs are at the highest level since April 2008.

Midwest Unemployment Rates

  

EDITOR’S NOTES:

Data are sourced from October Current Employment Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics – U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

October employment data for Indiana Counties, Cities and MSAs will be available Monday, Nov. 19, 2018, at noon (Eastern) pending U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics validation.