Photo: In.gov
The unemployment rate in Indiana rose to 9 percent, making it the first time it has been above the U.S. unemployment rate in nine months.
Indiana’s unemployment rate went up for the sixth-straight month in October, but one economist says the Hoosier job market is merely flat lining.
The state lost 2,900 private sector jobs last month, raising unemployment to 9 percent. It is the first time since January the Indiana unemployment rate is not below the U.S. rate.
If you look at the last three months combined, the labor force in the state has increased by 36,000, that is the largest increase in nearly 20 years.Ball State economist Michael Hicks says that slightly tempers the concern Hoosiers should feel about the job market.
“I think we’re flat lining right now and given the difficulty with the European Union and the risk to financial collapse, the big decline in the stock market, the best we can hope for until those things are rectified is flat lining,” he says.
Hicks says he is concerned about the apparent disconnect between people rejoining the labor force and the slowdown in job growth.
