Frail economy could cost state 15,000 jobs

IndyStar.com

Indiana, already battered by a slowing economy that has closed or shrunk factories around the state, could lose up to 15,000 additional jobs next year as the business climate continues to sputter, according to new forecast by Indiana University economists.

The Hoosier state will almost certainly face at least a moderate recession next year, similar in severity to those in 1990 and 2001, according to the forecast, which was presented this morning by a panel of IU economists at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis.

"But we cannot rule out something worse -- comparable to the severe recession in the early 1980s," said Bill Witte, associate professor of economics and co-director of the Center for Econometric Model Research at IU.