INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 20, 2020) – Indiana’s unemployment rate drops to 6.2 percent for September, and the national rate is 7.9 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 19,691 over the previous month. This was a result of a decrease of 6,289 unemployed residents and a decrease of 13,402 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 63.0 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 61.4 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 109,700 over the year and by 4,500 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Private Education and Health Services (-4,000) and the Construction (-1,300) sectors. Losses were offset by gains in the Professional and Business Services (2,000) and the Leisure and Hospitality (800) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,623,100, which is 126,200 below the January 2019 peak.
Midwest Unemployment Rates
