Indiana’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped .2 tenths of a percent for a second-consecutive month and now stands at 4.6 percent for the month of July.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says a primary cause for this drop is a third-straight month of significant gains in Hoosiers finding employment coupled with a substantial amount of Hoosiers leaving the unemployment ranks.
Indiana’s labor force, a measure of Hoosiers employed or seeking employment, has experienced total labor growth of more than 192,000 since January 2013.
This has led to all-time highs in the state’s total labor force and total number of employed.
Workforce Development Commissioner Steve Braun says Indiana’s labor force has been trending positively throughout the last three years, which demonstrates confidence among Hoosier job-seekers as they secure gainful employment.
Braun says the corresponding contraction of the applicant pool is also increasing employer demand for workers with the right skills and training. He says the department along with its WorkOne Career Centers and other community partners, can assist jobseekers in obtaining the skills and training necessary to fill the many high-wage, high-demand jobs available throughout Indiana.
Braun also noted that since 2009, the low point of employment for the state, Indiana’s private sector employment growth has surpassed the nation.
Total private employment for July stands at 30,000 above the March 2000 peak, and July is the 13th-consecutive month above that peak.
Also initial and continued unemployment insurance claims for the first 32 weeks of 2016 are at their lowest point since 1987.
