Ball State University economist Michael Hicks says Indiana’s unemployment rate is falling because the state economy is creating jobs,unlike the national rate, which is falling because discouraged job seekers are leaving the workforce.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported this morning that the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped by 0.3 percent in August to 8.1 percent, the largest one-month decrease since January 2011. Indiana added 3,000 manufacturing jobs last month, halting a recent short-lived decline. The private educational and health services sector grew by 3,000 jobs in August, as well.

“Our rate remains high because Indiana’s workforce is expanding as more people are looking for jobs,” says Hicks, director of Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research. “The national unemployment rate decline is due to a shrinking workforce. The result is that the Indiana economy appears to be growing jobs, while the U.S. labor markets as a whole are distressingly stagnant.

“I suspect that these data will be revised due to imperfections in the seasonal adjustment, but the growth in what are almost certainly permanent manufacturing jobs is a very bright spot for Indiana.”

For more information, contact Hicks at mhicks@bsu.edu or 765-716-3625.