The national unemployment rate for college graduates age 25 and older was 4.9 percent in March, up from 4.4 percent a year
ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
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.
Two of Indiana’s most influential business advocates are lobbying Congress for relief from the state’s fast-growing
Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund debt.
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.
Legislators postponed a $400 million tax hike to shore up Indiana’s bankrupt Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, but state’s
most
troubled employers still face automatic payroll tax hike this year.
Both parties reportedly agreed to tentative deals on the issues that threatened to push the legislative session all the way
to the brink, including a one-year delay for a planned increase in unemployment taxes.
The state’s unemployment rate in January remained unchanged from the seasonally adjusted figure of 9.7 percent Indiana reported
in December.
The Labor Department figures suggest the job market is slowly healing but that significant hiring has yet to occur.
Out of six professionals IBJ profiled a year ago, three have found jobs, although all have accepted lower pay than
they were getting before. One could not be reached, but she still lists herself as looking for work on LinkedIn.com. Two tried
to start their own businesses, with one giving up and one, Bruce Flanagan, still trying.
New claims for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly last week, mostly because state agencies processed a backlog of
claims caused by snowstorms the previous week.
Programs will bolster job opportunities for some 1,700 Indiana workers in sectors including health care and advanced manufacturing.
Whether to delay increases in taxes that employers pay to Indiana’s unemployment insurance fund is becoming a
contentious issue in the General Assembly.
Kmart’s announcement that it will close its store in Connersville in May will put 59 employees out of work. Fayette County,
where the city is located, already is strapped by steep job losses.
The number of newly laid-off workers seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, a hopeful sign the job market may
be improving.
January’s report offers hope that employers may start adding jobs soon. Excluding the beleaguered construction industry, the private sector as a whole added 63,000 positions.
The president’s unemployment strategy is twofold: create jobs, and force Republicans to choose between helping Main Street
and Wall Street.
