Indiana’s private sector sent a June record for job creation. Yet the state’s unemployment rate rose for the first time in a year.
The Hoosier private sector added 10,000 jobs last month, including growth in every major employment sector. The surge was led by the leisure and hospitality and construction sectors, each contributing at least 2,700 new jobs. But the state’s unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a percent to 5.9 percent.
That’s the first time the rate has gone up since June of 2013. The state Department of Workforce Development attributes the increase to more people looking for work.
About 4,000 people resumed their job hunt last month. Workforce Development Commissioner Scott Sanders says June’s employment picture is a positive sign, but also evidence that work to recuperate the state’s economy isn’t finished.