Indiana’s latest job numbers show the state is on a path for record job creation which it has not seen in more than 15 years.

According to the Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the state’s unemployment rate declined by 0.4 percent to 5.4 percent in April.   The state’s unemployment rate has decreased by 2.1 percent over the past two years, while the Hoosier labor force has grown by roughly 63,000 individuals during the same period.

Indiana is now 7,800 private sector jobs shy of the all-time peak of employment, which occurred in March of 2000.   The state had more than 2.6 million employed Hoosiers at the time.

DWD also says, private sector employment in the Hoosier State grew by 10,600 jobs in April, led mainly by increases in the Trade, Transportation, & Utilities (+6,400), Professional & Business Services (+2,500), and Construction (+2,400) sectors.   Since January 2013, Indiana has added nearly 112,000 private sector jobs, and more than 281,000 since July, 2009, the low point of employment in the state. Monthly private sector increases have averaged 4,000 per month over the past two years.