State unemployment rate ticks up to 8 percent

Indiana’s unemployment rate ticked up to 8 percent in June, marking the first time the rate has increased in nearly a year.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development said Friday morning that the June rate crept up from 7.9 percent in May. It remains below the national rate of 8.2 percent.

The rate last increased in August 2011, when it rose from 9.2 percent to 9.3 percent.

Indiana’s unemployment rate had been above 8 percent for the first three months of the year, before dipping to 7.9 percent in April and May.

The state added 1,400 private-sector jobs in June, much fewer than the 7,700 added in May and the 9,900 added in April.

Indiana’s manufacturing sector, however, continues to rebound from steep job losses during the recession, DWD Commissioner Scott B. Sanders said in a prepared statement.

“Manufacturing continues to lead the change in Hoosier job growth, adding 2,800 jobs in June and 15,100 for 2012,” he said. “Of the 140,000 private-sector jobs Indiana has added since July 2009, almost half (60,300) have come from this sector alone.”

Indiana has notched eight consecutive months of private-sector job growth, Sanders said. So far in 2012, the state's 1.5-percent job growth continues to outpace the U.S. average of 0.9-percent growth.

Statewide non-farm employment in June totaled 2.9 million on a seasonally adjusted basis. A total of 265,813 Hoosiers sought unemployment benefits, up from a revised 251,267 in May.

Besides manufacturing, sectors showing employment gains in June included professional and business services (4,700 jobs) and financial activities (1,200 jobs).

Sectors showing losses included government (6,700 jobs), private education and health services (4,100 jobs), and leisure and hospitality (1,900 jobs).

In the Indianapolis metropolitan area, the non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 7.8 percent in June, down from 8.6 percent in June 2011.

Comparisons of metro areas are more accurately made using the same months in prior years because the government does not adjust the figures for factory furloughs and other seasonal fluctuations.