INDIANAPOLIS –  Indiana’s unemployment rate stands at 3.5 percent for September and remains lower than the national rate of 3.7 percent. Except for one month when it was equal (October 2014), Indiana’s unemployment rate now has been below the U.S. rate for nearly five years.

Indiana has held steady at 3.5% for three months.

Indiana’s labor force had a net increase of 4,564 over the previous month. Indiana’s total labor force, which includes both Hoosiers employed and those seeking employment, stands at 3.39 million, and the state’s 65.1 percent labor force participation rate remains above the national rate of 62.7 percent.

In addition, the number of Indiana’s ongoing regular unemployment insurance claims is the lowest since 1976, when UI claims were first recorded.