Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a local lunch crowd that he expects the economy to keep growing, but he said the growth is so slow that it could create a "permanent group" of underemployed Americans.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits plunged to its lowest level in nine weeks. Other economic figures released Thursday were mainly disappointing.
Indiana’s jobless rate rose to 8.3 percent in August from 8.2 percent in July despite the addition of 11,000 private-sector jobs, the state announced Friday morning. The state is questioning the calculation.
The Labor Department said Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits declined by 3,000 last week, to 382,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose for the fifth straight week, to 377,750, the highest level in nearly three months.
The unemployment rate fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, the Labor Department said Friday. But that was only because more people gave up looking for work. Hourly pay fell, manufacturers cut the most jobs in two years and the number of people in the work force dropped to its lowest level in 31 years.
The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was unchanged last week at a seasonally adjusted 374,000, suggesting little improvement in the job market.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has caught more than 135 people falsely claiming benefits since 2006. Sixty-two of those have been convicted of felonies, including 14 this year.
The number of Americans filing first-time applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to a one-month high, showing little progress in the labor market.
Indiana’s unemployment rate climbed to 8.2 percent in July, marking the second straight month the rate has increased.
U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday, a somewhat hopeful sign after three months of sluggish hiring. However, the unemployment rate rose to 8.3 percent, up from 8.2 percent in June.
The increase marks the first time Indiana’s unemployment rate has risen in nearly a year, the Department of Workforce Development said Friday. The rate remains below the national rate of 8.2 percent.
The number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits plunged last week. But a big reason was that some automakers skipped their traditional summer shutdowns to keep up with demand, leading to fewer temporary layoffs of autoworkers.
U.S. employers created only 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent, up from 8.1 percent in April, the first increase in 11 months.
Indiana’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.9 percent in April, falling below 8 percent for the first time since November 2008. The rate has dropped for five straight months.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, suggesting some gains in the job market.
Employers added fewer workers than predicted in April, but the jobless rate unexpectedly fell as workers left the labor force. The participation rate, which indicates the share of working-age people in the labor force, fell to it lowest mark since 1981.
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week by the most in nearly a year. But the four-week average, a less volatile measure, ticked up.
Rushville-based Barada Associates Inc. specializes in helping business clients make good hiring decisions—services that have become more popular as companies find themselves inundated with eager applicants looking for work.
Indiana’s jobless rate is the lowest it’s been since December 2008 and matches the national jobless rate for March, also at 8.2 percent.
Applications have started to tick up in recent weeks after months of steady declines. And employers added only 120,000 jobs in March — half the pace of the previous three months.
