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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe state’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dipped one-tenth of a percentage point, to 4.4 percent, in October as private-sector employment grew by 3,400 jobs, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development said Friday.
Indiana’s labor force —which is composed of both employed and unemployed-but-willing-to-work residents—has grown by 83,409 workers in the past year. That growth has helped push the state’s total labor force to more than 3.3 million, the state said.
Private-sector employment in Indiana has grown by 26,900 this year.
Monthly gains were seen in the categories of Private Education & Health Services (3,600), Trade, Transportation & Utilities (800) and Leisure & Hospitality (400). Declines were seen in Professional & Business Services (-700), Manufacturing (-600) and Financial Services (-400).
Indiana’s labor-force participation rate—the percentage of the state’s population that is either employed or actively seeking work—was at 65 percent in October, remaining well above the national rate of 62.8 percent.
Among Indiana’s neighboring states, Michigan was behind Indiana in October with a jobless rate of 4.7 percent, followed by Ohio (4.9 percent), Kentucky (5.1 percent) and Illinois (5.6 percent).
The national unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in October.
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