>>SOUTHERN INDIANA — Louisville Metro’s total employment is at its lowest level since 1997, a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study showed Wednesday.
The statistics are still preliminary, but the report placed the number of jobs that existed in Louisville Metro — which includes Floyd and Clark counties — at 587,000 at the end of January.
That’s the fewest since August 1997, when there were 581,000 jobs. In January 2008, total employment for Louisville Metro was 626,000.
“That is stunning, and indicative of the depth of employment losses,” said Uric Dufrene, Sanders chair of the Indiana University Southeast business department.
The total employment report came on the same day state jobless rates were released. Indiana’s January mark remained unchanged from December, holding at 9.7 percent.
“Manufacturing was the positive in this report,” Dufrene said. “Indiana manufacturers added approximately 4,000 jobs from December to January.”
That’s in comparison to last year when manufacturers scaled back production to reduce inventory levels, Dufrene said.
In January 2009, the Hoosier unemployment rate was 8.8 percent. Kentucky’s jobless mark increased slightly in January, up to 10.7 percent. Kentucky employers cut about 12,000 jobs from December to January, the second highest decline in the country.
Indiana’s construction sector continued to see decreases in employment during January. About 2,000 construction jobs were shed from December to January.
“Construction employment is impacted by a much lower level of building permits on the residential side. But it is also being impacted by declines in activity on the commercial construction side,” Dufrene said.
But construction wasn’t the only category with significant setbacks.
Private education and health services lost 5,700 jobs in January and the leisure and hospitality sector cut 2,600 jobs in Indiana.
“Education and health services has been the most resilient sector during the Great Recession. This big decline is a surprise,” Dufrene said.
The state’s unemployment rate matched the national rate of 9.7 percent.
“Similar to the rest of the nation, Indiana isn’t seeing much change right now,” said Teresa Voors, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Dufrene doesn’t predict Indiana’s unemployment rate will stray far away from the 10 percent mark for the remainder of the year.
“The state’s employment situation has stabilized compared to last year,” he said. “However, significant challenges remain.”
