unemployment

Many workers deemed non-essential will find themselves out of jobs temporarily following Gov. Eric Holcomb’s directive to stay at home. In his address to the state on Monday, the governor says 54,000 Hoosiers already applied for unemployment benefits last week alone.

Indiana’s unemployment insurance program has seen a significant increase in claims as business is disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Workforce Development is urging those filing a claim to go online instead of a WorkOne office.

The Governor’s Workforce Cabinet released a draft of a new four-year plan for federal workforce funding today. They hope the public will review the plan and submit comments.

Indiana finished 2019 with an unemployment rate at 3.2 percent – the fourth month in a row it’s been at that level.

That 3.2 percent unemployment rate has been the same since September. And the rate has only gotten worse in one month over the last year and a half.

But the state lost more than 3,200 jobs total in 2019. Hardest hit was the manufacturing sector, which shed 9,000 jobs. The sector with the largest share of job growth was the construction industry, while the government added more jobs in Indiana last year than any other sector.

At a hotel near the interstate in Elkhart, you might find Janet Reason serving drinks to business travelers in the lobby. She often starts up conversations with folks by asking what company they’re working with.

"The funny thing is when they say what company, I already know the HR’s [reps] name off the top of my head," Reason says.

She knows all their names because for the past five years she worked for the Northern Indiana Workforce Board. But earlier this year, on April Fool's day, everything changed.  

Indiana’s unemployment rate remained at a nearly two decade low in October.

Indiana hit 3.2 percent unemployment in September, then remained there in October. That’s the lowest rate since December 2000. And it’s now been seven months since the unemployment rate got worse.

But the Hoosier State has lost about 5,200 total jobs this year. If that trend continues through the end of 2019, it would be the first time in seven years Indiana lost jobs overall in a calendar year.

Indiana’s unemployment rate declined in August, down to its lowest level in a year and a half – the Hoosier rate now stands at 3.3 percent.

The Indiana unemployment rate improved for the third consecutive month in August. That’s its best streak in more than two years. And 3.3 percent unemployment is the lowest rate since February 2018.

But other employment data was not so positive last month. The state’s private sector lost jobs in August – 2,100 positions, mostly from the leisure and hospitality and manufacturing sectors.

Indiana’s unemployment rate improved in July for the second consecutive month.

That’s despite other, negative employment figures.

The Indiana unemployment rate declined by 0.1 percent in July, down to 3.4 percent. That’s the lowest it’s been in more than a year – and it’s the first time it improved two consecutive months in more than a year and a half.

But the state’s private sector shed 1,300 jobs last month, primarily in the leisure and hospitality, and trade, transportation and utilities sectors.

County unemployment numbers for April seemed to indicate that the Kokomo area became Indiana’s most unemployed region almost overnight. There may not be an employment crisis, but instead a statistical anomaly.

Indiana’s unemployment rate remained unchanged last month, holding steady at 3.6 percent.

Indiana’s unemployment rate worsened last month for the first time in nearly a year.