INDIANAPOLIS (April 17, 2020) – Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.2 percent for March and remains lower than the national rate of 4.4 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 decrease of 119,073 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 391 unemployed residents and a decrease of 118,682 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.27 million, and the state’s 62.2 percent labor force participation rate is below the national rate of 62.7 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 17,800 over the year and by 18,700 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Leisure and Hospitality (-7,400), the Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-4,200) and the Manufacturing (-2,600) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,727,300, which is 22,000 below the January 2019 peak.
Midwest Unemployment Rates