Indiana’s December Unemployment Rate Lowest In Midwest

By Justin Hicks, IPB News | Published on in Business, Economy, Government
A graph showing Indiana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rates throughout 2020. (Justin Hicks/IPB News)
A graph showing Indiana's seasonally adjusted unemployment rates throughout 2020. (Justin Hicks/IPB News)

Indiana’s unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent in December, dropping almost a full percentage point from the month before according to numbers released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Tuesday morning.

The data shows a surge of more than 80,000 being counted in the labor force – the number of Hoosiers who were working, or actively looking for work last month. The state also reported a 64 percent labor force participation rate.

There were significant increases in people working in Trade, Transportation and Utility sectors, while Leisure and Hospitality jobs saw losses as COVID-19 infection rates grew.

READ MORE: Lawyers Urge Halt to DWD’s ‘Aggressive’ Attempts To Collect On Unemployment Errors

The new unemployment rate places Indiana as the best in the Midwest for December and remains much lower than the national rate of 6.7 percent.

Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.

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