Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 16.9 percent for April and is higher than the national rate of 14.7 percent.

The monthly unemployment rate is a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicator that reflects the number of unemployed people seeking employment within the prior four weeks as a percentage of the labor force.

Indiana’s labor force had a net decrease of 40,450 over the previous month. This was a result of an increase of 446,017 unemployed residents and a decrease of 486,467 employed residents. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.23 million, and the state’s 61.4 percent labor force participation rate is above the national rate of 60.2 percent.

Employment by Sector

Private sector employment has decreased by 405,200 over the year and by 380,500 over the previous month. The monthly decrease is primarily due to losses in the Leisure and Hospitality (-116,000), the Manufacturing (-78,200) and the Private Educational and Health Services (-54,200) sectors. Total private employment stands at 2,334,900, which is 414,000 below the January 2019 peak.

Midwest Unemployment Rates