Photo: Gretchen Frazee/Indiana Public Media News
Indiana's private sector created about 54,000 in 2012.
Indiana’s private sector added more than 8,000 jobs last month, capping a year of strong job growth. But the state’s unemployment rate also jumped to 8.2 percent.
Indiana’s robust December growth grew private sector job creation to 54,000 for 2012, the highest single year’s growth in a decade. And while the state’s unemployment increased, University of Indianapolis economist Matt Will says it’s because more than 7,000 Hoosiers started looking for jobs again.
“After this initial bump, which is natural when you have a jobs recovery, I think it will then begin to fall if we continue on the path we’re on,” he says.
But Will says despite the state’s strong job growth in 2012, it will be tough to repeat this year.
“We have all the components to keep the economy growing, so I think we will see growth, but I often say, it doesn’t matter how good Indiana is, we cannot resist the national trend of the economy,” he says.
Still, Will says the state has the potential to decrease its unemployment rate to seven percent by the end of 2013.
