Unemployment rate falls to 8.7 percent in Indiana

Sharp employment growth helped Indiana’s unemployment rate fall to 8.7 percent in January, state officials saidTuesday. The jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage points from a December figure of 8.9 percent, which reflected revised data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nonfarm payroll employment, accounting for seasonal employment changes, rose in January by 12,200 to more than 2.86 million from December. Employment in the public sector and financial activities were the only two sectors that showed month-over-month declines.