INDIANAPOLIS (June 19, 2020) – Indiana’s unemployment rate drops to 12.3 percent for May and is lower than the national rate of 13.3 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 110,780 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 156,903 unemployed residents and an increase of 267,683 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.33 million, and the state’s 63.2 percent labor force participation rate is above the national rate of 60.8 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 315,000 over the year and increased by 90,100 over the previous month. The monthly increase is primarily due to gains in the Leisure and Hospitality (34,700), the Manufacturing (18,100) and the Private Education and Health Services (10,700) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,422,800, which is 326,500 below the January 2019 peak.
Midwest Unemployment Rates