Inside INdiana Business is reporting that Indiana’s unemployment rate saw a slight increase in October, rising to 3.6 percent. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development says the state added 2,800 private sector jobs last month with total private employment hitting a new preliminary record high.
The state’s unemployment rate is 0.1 percent higher than the previous month and 0.2 percent higher than the same month in 2017. Indiana remains lower than the national rate, which remained steady at 3.7 percent. According to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Indiana’s labor force participation rate remained flat at 65.1 percent and remains higher than the national rate of 62.9 percent.
The preliminary November 2018 employment peak of 2,714,800 jobs is nearly 26,000 more than the official record high set in December 2017. The DWD says the new record is subject to monthly revisions and annual benchmarking before being made official.
The majority of the gains in private sector employment came from the manufacturing and private educational and health services sectors. The gains were offset by losses in the trade, transportation and utilities, and leisure and hospitality sectors.
Indiana continues to have the lowest unemployment of the surrounding states. Only Minnesota and Wisconsin continue to have lower unemployment rates at 2.8 and 3.0, respectively.
You can connect to more about Indiana’s unemployment rate from the Department of Workforce Development by clicking here.