When it comes to work and income earning opportunities for all citizens, Indiana has always been way ahead of almost all other States. We may be one of the few places on earth with four full seasons (almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction) but we are also one of the few places on earth where everyone who wants to work can work. Note “participation rate” is far more important than “unemployment rate” because the latter only includes those who have actively tried to get employed in the last four weeks, while the former is based upon all persons of working age who can work in some way.

This just in via eMail from Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD):

September Indiana Employment Report

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 19, 2018) – Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for September and remains lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent. With the exception of one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana’s unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for nearly five years. The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 4,564 over the previous month. This was a result of a 337 decrease in unemployed residents and an increase of 4,901 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.39 million, and the state’s 65.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.7 percent.

In addition, the number of Indiana’s ongoing regular unemployment insurance claims is the lowest since 1976, when UI claims were first recorded.

Learn more about how unemployment rates are calculated here: http://www.hoosierdata.in.gov/infographics/employment-status.asp.