Indiana Unemployment Rate Fails To Improve, Now Even With U.S.

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

The state hasn’t seen an improvement in nearly a year and a half. And Indiana’s unemployment rate is now the same as the national rate, after the U.S. rate improved last month. The Hoosier State had been better than the country in that measure for four-and-a-half years.

Indiana’s private sector shed jobs in April, 3,600 of them – breaking a seven-month growth streak.

Still, the state’s labor force once again grew last month. That extends a record streak of improvement in that measure, which gauges not just those who have a job but also those actively looking for one. Growth in the labor force is generally viewed as a sign of optimism in the economy.