MARCUS: Indiana jobs situation is improving
The bleeding seems to have stopped where job loss is concerned, but it’s not time to pat ourselves on the back.
The bleeding seems to have stopped where job loss is concerned, but it’s not time to pat ourselves on the back.
Claims have fluctuated wildly in the past several weeks and have not dropped below January levels. Elevated unemployment claims,
along with last month’s weak jobs report and a struggling housing market, have economists worried the recovery is slowing.
Pessimism about economic recovery grows as employment numbers for June fall short of expectations.
Locally based consultancy LeadJen had 20 employees in January. Halfway through the year, the company already has hired 20
more, and President Jenny
Vance expects to add another 20 over the next six months.
Virtually all the job creation in May came from the hiring of 411,000 census workers. Job creation by private companies grew
at the slowest pace since the start of the year.
A couple of Hoosier entrepreneurs think they can take their career information web site national.
Indiana unemployment figure hits double digits in April for the first time since September, showing how volatile the job market
remains.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 471,000 last week, up by 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department
said Thursday. It was the first increase in five weeks and the biggest jump since a gain of 40,000 in February.
Arcadia Resources Inc. is planning a $3.9 million expansion of its Indianapolis headquarters and pharmacy operations, the
company said Thursday morning, confirming that it plans to add as many as 930 jobs by 2013.
Employers, encouraged by a recovering economy, are hiring again. But they are not doing it at the level needed to reduce the
jobless rate.
Productivity growth and falling labor costs are good for corporate profits but mean household incomes continue to be squeezed,
putting the economic recovery at risk.
The number of jobs in Indiana rose by 16,600, marking the largest month-to-month increase since September 2005, the Department
of Workforce Development said.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development last year identified $3.9 million in unemployment fraud.
The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time claims increased by 18,000 in the week ending April 3, to a seasonally
adjusted 460,000.
Buoyed by good news on the jobs front, the White House claimed credit Sunday for reversing the downward economic spiral while
bracing out-of-work Americans for a slow recovery.
The state’s jobless rate has been either 9.8 percent or 9.7 percent the past four months.
New claims for unemployment benefits fell more than anticipated last week—partially due to changes in the calculations—as
layoffs ease and hiring slowly recovers.
The Indiana General Assembly finally adjourned its 2010 legislative session early Saturday with deals including a one-year
delay on unemployment insurance tax increases and aid for schools reeling from state budget cuts.
The impasse between the two parties over a delay in an unemployment-tax increase is expected to drag the legislative session
into the weekend. "Nobody is talking right now," says one legislator.
The state’s unemployment rate in January remained unchanged from the seasonally adjusted figure of 9.7 percent Indiana reported
in December.