Indiana’s jobless rate holds steady for third straight month

Keywords Unemployment
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Indiana’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.4 percent for the third month in a row in November, the state Department of Workforce Development announced Friday morning.

Last month’s seasonally-adjusted rate was down from 5.9 percent in November 2014.

Private-sector employment rose during the month by 3,400 jobs, led by gains of 2,800 jobs in the Construction sector and 2,500 jobs in the Trade, Transportation & Utilities sector.

The Manufacturing sector saw an overall decline of 3,300 jobs.

Indiana’s labor-force participation rate came in at 63.7 percent, continuing a 19-month trend of being higher than the national average (62.5 percent).

Indiana had the lowest unemployment rate among its neighboring Midwestern states in November, followed by Ohio (4.5 percent), Kentucky (4.9 percent), Michigan (5.1 percent), and Illinois (5.7 percent).

The national unemployment rate for November was 5.0 percent, the same as October.

Payrolls climbed in 35 states in November and the unemployment rate fell in 27 as an improving economy continued to absorb slack in the U.S. labor market.

Florida led the nation with a 35,200 gain in employment in November, followed by a 16,300 increase in Texas, figures from the Labor Department showed Friday.

Vermont showed the biggest percentage gain in employment last month with a 0.9 percent advance, followed by Idaho at 0.7 percent.

The biggest statistically significant decrease in the unemployment rate occurred in West Virginia, where joblessness fell by 0.4 percentage points, to 6.5 percent in November. Illinois showed the largest increase in unemployment, with the rate climbing to 5.7 percent from 5.4 percent.

North Dakota had the lowest jobless rate in the U.S., at 2.7 percent, while New Mexico had the highest, at 6.8 percent.

 

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