Unemployment dips in Indiana

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October 21, 2009

State below national jobless average

By DANIEL SUDDEATH The News and Tribune Wed Oct 21, 2009, 10:07 PM EDT

Indiana’s unemployment rate is below the national average for the first time since October 2008.

According to a U.S. Labor Department survey, the state’s jobless mark fell to 9.6 in September, slightly below the national average of 9.8 percent.

The dip wasn’t substantial in Indiana, as the August mark was 9.9 percent. Still, Indiana was just one of 19 states that showed a decrease in its jobless rate last month. Indiana also posted the highest month-over-month employment increase in the nation, adding 4,400 jobs from August to September.

“These employment gains came primarily from manufacturing and government,” said Uric Dufrene, Sanders chair of the Indiana University Southeast business department.

Manufacturing added 3,000 jobs and government gained 3,600 positions in Indiana from August to September.

“We continue to see a recovery in manufacturing nationally,” Dufrene said. “The initial recovery in manufacturing can be attributed to replenishing significant declines in inventory stocks.”

From August 2008 to August 2009, Indiana job losses were at 177,000. That number decreased dramatically in September, as year-over-year losses dropped to 135,000.

“Unlike last month, this unemployment decline came from an actual decline in the number of the unemployed, and we saw an increase in the labor force,” Dufrene said. “So this snapshot of data suggests that the decline in the unemployment rate can be attributed to people actually finding jobs.”

Kentucky decreased its unemployment rate to 10.9 percent last month, and Ohio’s jobless mark fell to 10.1 percent. Illinois saw an increase in unemployment, as its rate jumped to 10.5 percent.

Indiana has the lowest jobless rate of its neighboring states.

“Indiana is bucking the national trend with three straight months of declining unemployment,” stated Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development in a news release. “It’s still too early to say we have turned the corner, but Indiana’s economy is definitely trending in the right direction.”

Dufrene warned that despite favorable signs, Indiana and the nation have a long road to recovery ahead.

“Consumers will continue to reduce debt levels and pull back on spending,” he said. “These changes in consumer behavioral patterns will continue to exert considerable challenges to the Indiana manufacturing economy and other industries that rely on consumer spending.”

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