State unemployment rate holds steady at 3.5 percent

Indiana’s unemployment rate remained at 3.5 percent in October for the third month in a row as the state’s labor force continued to grow.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development released its latest unemployment report Friday.

Indiana’s labor force—which is composed of both employed and unemployed-but-willing-to-work residents—increased by 5,303 workers from September to October, to 3.4 million.

Indiana’s labor-force participation rate—the percentage of the state’s population that is either employed or actively seeking work—stayed at 65.1 percent in October. It remains ahead of the national rate of 62.9 percent.

With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana's unemployment rate has been below the U.S. rate for more than five years.

Private sector employment in Indiana grew by 3,500 in October over the previous month and is up more than 25,500 over the year, the state said.

October job gains were seen in the sectors of Private Educational and Health Services (2,500) and Construction (1,500). Losses were seen in Leisure and Hospitality (-2,500) and the Other (-100), which includes Mining and Logging, IT and other services.

Total private employment reached a preliminary record highpoint of 2,713,200, which is 24,300 above the official December 2017 peak.

The unemployment rate in Indiana for October was lower than the rates in neighboring states Michigan (3.9 percent), Illinois (4.2 percent), Ohio (4.6 percent) and Kentucky (4.5 percent).