INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 18, 2020) – Indiana’s unemployment rate drops to 6.4 percent for August, and the national rate is 8.4 percent. 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 41,752 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 46,693 unemployed residents and an increase of 88,445 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.36 million, and the state’s 63.5 percent labor force participation rate is above the national rate of 61.7 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 decreased by 103,000 over the year and increased by 32,700 over the previous month. The monthly increase is primarily due to gains in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (7,200), the Private Education and Health Services (6,300) and the Professional and Business Services (6,000) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,631,000, which is 118,300 below the January 2019 peak.
Midwest Unemployment Rates
