Dip In Indiana Jobless Rate Not Expected To Last

Job cuts are being made across the state, with ArcelorMittal planning more than 1,000 layoffs from its steel mill in East Chicago, while Cummins Inc. is laying off about 700 workers in Columbus. Two northern Indiana auto parts factories say they will lay off more than 300 people, and a Lafayette-based manufacturer told nearly 800 workers who were laid off over the winter that it does not expect to recall them.

Expected declines in the auto industry and related businesses are one reason why the state is likely to see its unemployment rate creep higher, said Bill Witte, an economist who is co-director of the Center for Econometric Model Research at Indiana University.

"It'll still be a while before we hit complete bottom," Witte said.

Witte estimates the unemployment rate could start to decline later this year.

Indiana's April unemployment rate of 9.9 percent was 1 percentage point higher than the national rate of 8.9 percent, but the state fared about the same as some of its neighbors. Ohio's rate was 10.2 percent, while Kentucky and Illinois were at 9.8 percent and 9.4 percent respectively. Michigan had the country's highest unemployment rate at 12.9 percent.