Indiana now has lowest unemployment rate in the Midwest

(The Center Square) – Indiana has the lowest unemployment rate in the Midwest, according to new numbers out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The state’s unemployment rate for December was 4.3%, compared to 4.4% for Minnesota, the second best in the region. All other Midwestern states were above 5, with Illinois the highest at 7.6% and Michigan at 7.5%.

Ohio and Wisconsin were both at 5.5 while Kentucky’s rate was 6%.

The national unemployment rate for December 2020 was 6.7%.

Overall, Indiana’s rate of 4.3% was the 11th lowest in the country.

Indiana’s labor force, which includes those who are working and also those who are looking for work, increased by 83,609 in December.

The number of people employed in the state is now 3,246,617. An estimated 144,356 people in the state are still unemployed and looking for work.

Indiana’s low unemployment number, 10 months after Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb first declared a state health emergency and issued his Hunker Down Hoosiers order, closing non-essential businesses in the state and telling people to stay home, is remarkable.

In April of 2020, Indiana’s unemployment rate shot up to a shocking 17.5%, with only Michigan doing worse among Midwestern states with a 24% unemployment rate.

Indiana’s GDP dropped 5.6% in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 5% for the nation as a whole as the pandemic began to affect people’s lives and businesses.

In an article in the winter edition of Indiana Business Review, two IU Kelley School of Business professors noted that although Indiana was hit harder than many other states, it’s also recovered more quickly.

“Importantly, Indiana does bounce back with greater amplitude relative to the entire country during recovery periods,” they wrote.

But it doesn’t bounce back in the same way for everyone.

The pandemic, professors Kyle Anderson and Ryan Brewer wrote, “has damaged Indiana’s labor force” which was still recovering from the Great Recession.

Currently, it is difficult to tell what permanent damage may result from what we have experienced this year in the labor markets. Yet, when we consider people who are experienced workers in industries particularly affected by the pandemic—for instance, leisure workers, hospitality workers, hotel professionals, restaurateurs, airline workers or commercial real estate professionals—these workers may not easily have jobs waiting for them once lockdown restrictions lift and once the pandemic lifts once and for all. Due to age and other factors, transferring into different industries may prove difficult. Consequently, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for Indiana, as well as peer states, has shifted down considerably.

In December, the Leisure and Hospitality sector shed 1,100 jobs – an economist’s way of saying that more than 1,000 residents of the state who work in restaurants and hotels lost their jobs – in one month alone.

But other sectors added jobs, including the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector, which added 8,400 jobs in December.

The total number of people employed in the private sector in the state now stands at 2,663,600.

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square