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Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry has passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

State Private Sector Adds Jobs, Unemployement Rate Flat

Indiana’s private sector added nearly 10,000 jobs last month.  Yet for the fourth consecutive month, the unemployment rate failed to drop.  Still, Governor Mike Pence says July’s employment numbers tell him Indiana’s economy is “all systems go.”

The Hoosier private sector has added jobs for ten consecutive months, surging again in July with 9,900 jobs created.  That boost was led by the manufacturing sector, which added more than 5,000 jobs, the most in the country last month. 

But the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.9 percent.  That’s because the state’s labor force continues to swell, with about 2,500 people rejoining the job hunt. 

Governor Pence says he’s encouraged by that, because it shows optimism in the Hoosier economy.

“The policies that we’re advancing – beginning with fiscal responsibility, a pro-growth environment of low taxes, sensible regulations, the right kind of investments in roads, in bridges, and in education innovation – is creating an environment where businesses, even in this soft economy, are seeing Indiana as a great place to invest and a great place to grow,” Pence said.

Over the past year, Indiana’s labor force has grown by more than 54,000 people, a rate eight times larger than the national average.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.