Indiana state officials say the state's overall economic outlook remains strong, even as the state's labor force has shrunk four consecutive months.

Indiana's unemployment rate improved in December for the first time in eight months.

Indianas unemployment rate ticked up a tenth of a percentage point last month, to 3.7 percent the highest the rate has been in more than two years.

Indiana's 3.3 percent July unemployment rate is still near record lows for the state.

Indiana's unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in March preliminary estimates, the fourth month in a row at that rate. Total employment is up significantly across the state compared to a year ago, but year-over-year growth has slowed significantly in the manufacturing sector.

Indiana's labor market strength was unchallenged in the first two months of 2023. February's unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in preliminary Federal data released Tuesday, marking a third consecutive month at that almost-historic low.

State officials say some of the tight rules on unemployment benefits end up clogging up the system, preventing people from quickly getting paid and costing the state a lot of money especially during economic downturns. A bill to alleviate some of DWDs administrative burden and expedite the process of getting more money to beneficiaries heads to the governors desk after passing the Senate Tuesday.

Lawmakers hope to streamline the process to reduce the amount of work the state has to do to give claimants their money.

It appears for now employers are still posting more jobs than the states available job seekers can fill. Experts say one cause of that could be a lack of access to affordable child care in Indiana. A state Senate committee is considering funding a pilot program that would split costs between families, employers and the state to bring more parents back into the workforce.

More than 500 people are already scheduled to lose jobs to layoffs and site closures in the first half of next year as experts predict a recession. That can be a pretty scary outlook, but new preliminary labor market estimates tell a more complicated story.