2022 was a unique year for Indiana’s labor market. New federal estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest a record-high number of Hoosiers were working – but not as many as employers may need. Experts say such employment numbers don’t say much about why 2022’s labor market looked the way it did or about what the future holds.
Indiana’s 2022 annual unemployment rate was 3 percent – meaning, on average, about 100,000 Hoosiers were out of work but actively seeking something. The last time the state’s unemployment level was or rate was that low was in 2000.
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These estimates suggest workers had a lot of power in this job market because fewer people were competing for job openings.
Ultimately, we don’t know what the labor market looked like in January 2023 yet, let alone right now. So these numbers aren’t really useful for telling us if, when or how the state’s labor market may shift – and what that means for the economy overall.
Adam is our labor and employment reporter. Contact him at arayes@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @arayesIPB.