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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Indiana adds jobs, but unemployment numbers remain the same

Indiana added 9,900 private sector jobs in July, according to a news release from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

This is the second consecutive month in which Indiana has seen a large influx of jobs in the private sector.

The state has added more than 66,300 jobs in the private sector in the last year and more than 244,000 since July 2009 when the state’s employment reached its lowest.

Gains in the private sector, or the part of the economy run by individuals and companies for profit, came mainly from the manufacturing sector, which added about 5,500 jobs.

Other sectors experiencing gains include trade, transportation and utilities, private educational and health services, construction and financial activities.

Sectors seeing losses were professional and business services as well as leisure and hospitality.

But despite a large influx in private sector jobs, unemployment in Indiana remained stagnant at 5.9 percent in July.

“While the number of jobs is increasing, more people are being encouraged to enter the labor market,” economics professor Eric Leeper said. “The labor force is a ratio.”

When you have an increase in the number of people searching for jobs and an increase in the number of jobs available, then the unemployment rate will see little to no change, Leeper said.

Economically, Indiana is holding steady compared to the rest of the nation.

Indiana sits 0.3 percent below the national unemployment rate of 6.2 percent.

The state also ranks second in the Midwest, with a rate 0.2 percent higher than that of Ohio.

Scott Sanders, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said the Indiana labor force has added more than 54,000 jobs in the past year.

“That is more than eight times larger than the national rate of growth during the same time period,” he said in the release. “Which is quite remarkable.”

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development is a government organization that provides labor market information and unemployment insurance as some of its primary services.

According to their website, the IDWD’s mission is to advance and cultivate economic growth in Indiana by building a world-class workforce.

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