Indiana's unemployment rate fell to 4.2% in January, down from 4.3% the previous month.
The national jobless rate was 6.3% in January, down from 6.7% in December.
Indiana's labor force — the total number of people working and actively seeking work — grew by 3,803 in January, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. A total of 12,700 fewer Hoosiers were unemployed last month, and 16,503 more found employment.
Indiana's unemployment rate finally fell under 10% in July, five months into the coronavirus pandemic that swept the globe.
A total of 3.35 million Hoosiers — or about 63.3% — are participating in the labor force, according to the DWD. A total of 2.66 million Hoosiers were employed in the private sector. A total of 2.62 million Hoosiers are working in the private sector.
Private-sector employment in Indiana has fallen by 111,400 jobs over last year, increasing by 3,300 in January. In January, the Hoosier state gained 1,600 jobs in leisure and hospitality and 1,400 in manufacturing. The state lost 500 professional and business services jobs and another 100 in financial activities.
People are also reading…
Unemployment fell by 0.3 percentage point to 7.7% in January in neighboring Illinois. That's about 4.2 percentage points higher than the jobless rate of 3.5% a year ago, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
Illinois gained 9,700 jobs in January. The state added 11,500 jobs professional and business services and 5,100 in leisure and hospitality. It lost 6,400 jobs in financial activities, 3,200 in construction and 1,800 in government, according to the IDES.
In January, Indiana had the 11th lowest unemployment rate nationally and the fifth-lowest unemployment rate in the 12 U.S. Census Bureau-designated Midwest states, trailing South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Wisconsin. Illinois had the highest jobless rate in the Midwest and the 42nd highest nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
NWI Business Ins and Outs: Little Italy expands, Butter Up! Popcorn closes, openings include Angie's Breakfast and Grill, Capital Motors, In The Cup Restaurant, Z's Shakes and Cakes, and Koroke Asian Cuisine
Little Italy expands
Little Italy, an extremely popular family-style Italian restaurant with a chef/owner who long cooked in Chicago, is expanding after a major renovation project in Dyer.
The restaurant on U.S. 30 temporarily closed for construction at the beginning of the year so it could remodel its space and grow "a little bigger."
The eatery, at 1155 Joliet St., is known for sumptuous pasta dishes like rigatoni a la vodka, fireside gnocchi and the side of baked ziti that comes with entrees like crispy pork shoulder, 16-ounce prime ribeye, and maple and balsamic glazed salmon. A date night staple for many Region couples, it serves creative contemporary fare like truffle-roasted garlic bread, brick oven pizza and baked goat cheese in a romantic courtyard-like setting with string lights hung overhead.
Little Italy reopened for carryout Wednesday and plans to soon welcome customers back for dine-in in its new digs.
For more information, visit www.dyerlittleitaly.com or call 219-865-3040.
Angie's Breakfast and Grill opens
Angie's Breakfast and Grill offers breakfast favorites and fast food fare at 6740 Broadway in Merrillville. The newly opened restaurant offers salads, taco dinners, burritos, fajitas, club sandwiches, pita sandwiches, burgers, pasta, perch, pork chops, steaks, barbecue and traditional American sandwiches like the Rueben and Monte Cristo.
The extensive breakfast menu includes omelets like the Denver omelet, chorizo omelet, Greek omelet, gyro omelet and garbage omelet with ham, sausage, bacon, onion, tomato, mushroom, green pepper and American cheese. It also whips up skillets, fajita-style skillets, biscuits and gravy and Oreo cookie pancakes.
Angie's Breakfast and Grill offers dine-in, takeout and a drive-through.
Owners Angie and Phil Garbuno have long worked in the restaurant and have been looking for their own place for four years before opening three months ago in a space formerly occupied by El Campanari Mexican Restaurant, Harper's BBQ Wings and Fish and Central Gyros.
"There's a lot of nice traffic and very nice people," she said. "It's a nice place that just got rebuilt because of a fire."
The restaurant has 11 tables but caters to a to-go business.
"We have a little bit of everything," she said. "We have American breakfast, Mexican food, lunch salads, very good hand-crafted burgers."
Customers have especially gravitated to the garbage omelets and skillets, Garbuno said.
"We have pretty good reviews. It's a nice place that's very clean with good food," she said. "We want to focus on offering people the best food we can. We hope to eventually deliver through Grubhub and Uber Eats."
Angie's Breakfast and Grill is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
For more information, call 219-525-4730, find the business on Facebook or visit https://www.restaurantji.com/in/merrillville/angie-s-breakfast-and-grill-/.
Capital Motors rolls into town
Capital Motors hopes to get you into your latest ride at its new dealership in Merrillville.
The automotive dealership at 6300 Broadway in Merrillville sells used cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and other vehicles, including from the most recent model year. It also operates a virtual showroom online, buy trade-ins and offers financing options for those with "no credit or bad credit."
For more information, visit capitalmotorsindiana.com or call 219-455-6767.
In The Cup Restaurant opens
Customizable bowls have been a big trend at fast-casual restaurants like Chipotle, Qdoba, Big Bowl and any poke place for years, and an East Chicago entrepreneur hopes to make it even more convenient for today's busy lifestyle, where people are often on the road from one errand to the next.
In The Cup Restaurant in East Chicago offers everything in cups for convenience, whether meals, salads or desserts.
The restaurant, at 821 Main St., lets customers customize their cups with whatever ingredients they choose. It specializes in soul food and seafood, including shrimp and crab.
Owner Kelvin Bride came up with the concept because he was always on the go.
"We put anything in a cup: pizza, tacos, potatoes, popcorn," he said. "It's in-and-out so you can be on the go."
In The Cup also offers curbside pickup, delivery and dining in, including for small private parties.
"Everything is cooked to order," he said. "You build your own cup. We have a king sized cup that's 32 ounces and the regular cup that's 16 ounces. We stuff them high. Basically our promise is we will make your cup overflow."
Customers can get breakfast in a cup, vegan fare in a cup, keto cuisine in a cup, loaded potatoes in a cup, rolled ice cream in a cup, and even food that's traditionally served in cups — like elote and fruit — in a cup. Popular items include stuffed waffles, skillets, shrimp and grits and The Trinity, which combines steak, chicken and shrimp.
"It's an elegant location," Bride said. "This is my hometown. I try to locate all my businesses in my hometown. I want to help people and give them opportunities to have a job. My motto is to try to give people something they never had before. Right now, I'm just getting the word out. I'm trying to give hope to people in my hometown."
In The Cup Restaurant also sells coffee, tea and Frappuccino drinks.
So far, people have gravitated to the concept, with many returning in a few days to try something else on the menu.
"People love it. We've even asked if some would like some items on a plate, like nachos," he said. "Our customers love getting their food in a cup and getting it personalized. It's really a concept that shakes it up."
In the Cup Restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.
For more information, call 219-256-8125 or find the business on Facebook.
The owner of In The Cup Restaurant in East Chicago explains what it's all about
Z's Shakes and Cakes relocates to Gary
Z's Shakes and Cakes, the bakery with a cult following and shakes so monstrous and eye-popping they've been a hit on Instagram, has returned to its roots in Gary.
The store that sells shakes, custom cakes and ice cream decamped to the former Spill the Beans coffee shop space on U.S. 30 in Merrillville but has now reopened at 1215 Broadway in Gary. It's perhaps best known for its over-the-top shakes that come in flavors like Banana Pudding, Chocolate Hurricane, Chocolate Rainbow, Cookie & Oreo Cream, Cookie Dough, Lil Luke, Ms. Red Velvet, Peanut Butter Cup, Peanut Butter Crunch, Strawberry Diamond, Strawberry Z-Boy, Tornado Tart and Turtle Cheese Cake.
For more information, visit zshakescakes.com or call 219-487-5467.
Butter Up! Popcorn closes in Schererville
Butter Up! Popcorn, a longtime Frankfort, Illinois popcorn shop that relocated to Schererville in 2019, fell victim to coronavirus.
Koroke's Asian Cuisine replaced Happy Garden in Highland
Koroke's Asian Cuisine replaced Happy Garden at 3901 45th St. in the Strack & Van Til plaza in Highland.
The restaurant specialize in Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Koroke's serves up sushi, sashimi, nigiri, maki, fried rice, chow mein and bento boxes. Appetizers include crab rangoon, spring rolls, pot stickers, coconut shrimp, fried scallops, teriyaki chicken and pork fried gyoza.
For more information, visit korokehighland.com or call 219-922-8822.
If you would like your business to be included in a future column, email joseph.pete@nwi.com.
