Indiana’s unemployment rate held steady in July despite a significant drop in the national rate, according to numbers released Friday by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The state’s unemployment rate remained at 4.1% between June and July. It has hovered at or near that rate for the last seven months.
Meanwhile, the national rate descended from 5.9% in June to 5.4% in July.
An estimated 137,857 Hoosiers are currently unemployed and seeking jobs, the state reported. That’s down from 138,192 in June.
Indiana’s labor force—which is composed of both employed and unemployed-but-willing-to-work residents—had a net decrease of 1,740 over June’s tally to about 3.35 million. This was a result of a decrease of 630 unemployed residents and a decrease of 1,110 employed residents.
Indiana’s labor-force participation rate was unchanged from 63.2% in June. It again bettered the national rate of 61.7%, which inched higher from 61.6% in June.
The labor force participation rate indicates the percentage of all people of working age who are employed or are actively seeking work.
Private sector employment in Indiana in July increased by 17,100 from the previous month and is up by 96,600 over the year. Total private employment stands at 2,650,500, which is 90,000 below the December 2019 peak.
The monthly increase was due in part to job gains in the Manufacturing (4,800), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (4,500) and Private Educational and Health Services (2,800) sectors. Gains were offset somewhat by a loss in the Financial Activities (-1,600) sector.
Friday’s report broke out unemployment rates for six nearby states, four of which had higher unemployment rates than Indiana: Illinois (7.1%), Kentucky (4.4%), Michigan (4.8%) and Ohio (5.4%). Minnesota posted a 3.9% rate, and Wisconsin also was 3.9%.
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