November Unemployment Rate Falls After October's Revised Upward

About 5 percent of Indiana’s workers were jobless and looking for work in November. That’s half a percent less than the month before. But that doesn’t necessarily mean more people are employed – it may mean fewer people are looking for work.

In a Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment report last month, preliminary data showed Indiana had a 5 percent unemployment rate and a shrinking number of workers.

But in Friday’s report, October’s unemployment rate was revised to 5.5 percent and, instead of shrinking, the labor force actually grew by about 20,000. 

Kyle Anderson, an economist at Indiana University, said the revision is larger than usual. 

“It is a little bit surprising to see it that large,” Anderson said. “Usually it’s either no revision or a tenth here or a tenth there, something like that.”

He says it reflects the reality for workers with temporary furloughs or ones staying home to care for children – reporting whether you’re looking for work or not is more complicated than usual. 

“I think this year has created a lot of data challenges in terms of how we think about measuring employment,” he said.

With that caveat in mind, comparing November’s preliminary numbers to October’s revised numbers, the labor force shrunk by more than 40,000 workers. That would mean the lowest number of Hoosiers working, or looking for work, since August. 

Contact reporter Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.