According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in Indiana numbered 3,222,900, with approximately 172,200 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 5.3%, compared to the national average of 6.2% for the same period. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 12.7% in November 1982. The historical low was 2.8% in September 2000. In 2001, an estimated 5.4% of the labor force was employed in construction; 22.5% in manufacturing; 5.1% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 19.1% in trade; 5.4% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 22.9% in services; 11.7% in government; and 2.4% in agriculture. Unemployment rates are usually higher than the state average around Terre Haute and Gary and lower than the state average in the Bloomington area.
Most industrial workers live in Indianapolis and the Calumet area of northwestern Indiana. The AFL first attempted to organize workers at the US Steel Company's plant in Gary in 1919, but a strike to get union recognition failed. Other strikes by Indiana coal miners and railway workers in 1922 had limited success. By 1936, however, the CIO had won bargaining rights and the 40-hour workweek from US Steel, and union organization spread to other industries throughout the state.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 376,000 of Indiana's 2,826,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 13.3% of those so employed, down from 14.3% in 2001 and from 16.2% in 1998. The national average is 13.2%. In all, 411,000 workers (14.5%) were represented by unions. The majority of the workers belonged to unions affiliated with the AFL-CIO. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract. Indiana is one of 22 states with a right-to-work law, although the law only applies to school employees.