Indiana's unemployment rate dropped in October to 8 percent, according to data the state and federal government released Tuesday.
With nearly 235,000 people looking for jobs last month, the jobless rate fell 0.2 percentage points from September's rate of 8.2 percent, the largest one-month decrease since April.
Indiana nearly doubled the national rate of job growth in October, adding 7,700 private sector jobs, according to the Department of Workforce Development. This marks the largest monthly gain since May.
Private sector employment in the Hoosier state is now at more than 96 percent of the 2007 pre-recession levels.
"Over the past year, Indiana has experienced one of the strongest periods of job growth in over a decade," Scott Sanders, commissioner of the department, said in a statement. "Since last October, we have added nearly 67,000 private sector jobs and continue to significantly out-pace the national rate of growth."
Lake County's unemployment rate ticked up to 8.7 percent in October, from 8.6 percent in September. Porter County's rate was unchanged at 6.9 percent, while LaPorte County's rate also increased slightly to 8.9 percent from 8.8 percent.
The Indiana unemployment level hasn't changed much since reaching 7.9 percent in April after going down from 9.3 percent in the middle of last year.
Indiana's October jobless rate is slightly higher than the national 7.9 percent and better than its surrounding states other than Ohio.
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