August Indiana Employment Report

INDIANAPOLIS (September 17, 2021) – Indiana’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 4.1 percent for August, and the national rate is 5.2 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 decrease of 2,499 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 813 unemployed residents and a decrease of 1,686 employed residents. 

Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.34 million, and the state’s 63.1 percent labor force participation rate remains 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 increased by 72,700 over the year and decreased by 3,400 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Manufacturing (-4,300) and the Leisure and Hospitality (-2,400) sectors. Losses were offset by gains in the Private Educational and Health Services (1,900) and the All Other, which includes Mining, Logging, Information, and other services except Public Administration (1,100) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,648,800, which is 91,700 below the December 2019 peak.

Midwest Unemployment Rates