February Indiana Employment Report

INDIANAPOLIS (March 22, 2019) – Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for February 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.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 7,997 over the previous month. This was a result of an increase of 1,755 unemployed residents and an increase of 6,242 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 65.2 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 63.2 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 40,400 over the year and 4,400 over the previous month. The monthly increase is primarily due to gains in the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (3,300) and the Professional and Business Services (2,500) sectors. Gains were partially offset by losses in the Construction (-2,100) and the Financial Activities (-900) sectors. Total private employment reached a preliminary record highpoint of 2,747,600, which is 15,500 above the December 2018 peak. The February 2019 peak, like all data within this report, is subject to monthly revisions and annual benchmarking. 

Midwest Unemployment Rates