The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is reporting some positive trends, when it comes to employment. Commissioner Fred Payne reviewed some of the latest numbers during state officials’ COVID-19 briefing Wednesday.
“As many of you are aware, Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 11.2 percent for June,” Payne said. “That’s down from 12.3 percent in May, and that’s much lower than it was in April, where it stood at 16.9 percent.”
Payne also noted that the weekly initial unemployment claims fell below 20,000 earlier this month for the first time since early March. “That’s significant, as it shows good progress on where we’re going,” he explained. “But although we’ve seen the initial claims drop, we’ll probably see them ebb and flow from time to time.”
Meanwhile, private-sector employment increased by almost 129,000 jobs from May to June, with the leisure and hospitality field showing an especially large increase.
Payne added that Indiana’s labor participation rate for the month of June was at 64.3 percent. That’s almost back to where it was in February and higher than the national rate. “Now why is that significant? It lets us know that our Hoosiers are ready, willing, and they’re energized to make sure that we bounce back from this pandemic, and ready for work,” Payne said.
He said the state continues working to connect job-seekers to training and employment opportunities through its Rapid Recovery program. More information can be found at YourNextStepIN.org.
