Unemployment Rate Drops In December, But So Did Labor Force

Indiana’s unemployment rate went down in December, the second consecutive month it’s fallen.

The rate fell to 3.4 percent last month. That represents a drop of half of a percent since October.

Helping that drop in December: the private sector added 6,000 jobs, led by the manufacturing industry.

But the state’s labor force declined for the third consecutive month. The labor force includes people who either have a job or are actively looking for one. And more than 10,000 Hoosiers stopped looking for a job in December.

Contractions in the labor force can be seen as signs of pessimism in the economy.