The key economic tension to watch out for in 2023 will likely be the balance between employment levels and the cost of living, experts say.

More than 500 people are already scheduled to lose jobs to layoffs and site closures in the first half of next year as experts predict a recession. That can be a pretty scary outlook, but new preliminary labor market estimates tell a more complicated story.

Some companies are still expanding operations and hiring in Indiana despite the current tight labor market and warning signs of an economic downturn. E-commerce packing and shipping company Radial is one example.

Indiana's unemployment rate increased slightly in August to 2.8 percent. The state's unemployment rate is still near record lows for the last decade. It's also below the national rate of 3.7 percent.

The total number of employed people in Indiana hit a decade high in July, new preliminary federal estimates show. At the same time, the state's unemployed population increased slightly.

Indiana recorded a 2.2 percent unemployment rate in March. It's the third-lowest rate in the country and yet another record low for the state.

Indiana's unemployment rate hit record lows for the third straight month in February at 2.3 percent as the state also recorded the highest number of people working in a private-sector job.

Indiana continues to break state records for low unemployment as it fell to just 2.4 percent in January. But there's a flip side to that statistic: the rate of Hoosiers 16 and older participating in the workforce stayed flat.

The Elkhart-Goshen metropolitan area has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other areas in Indiana also have a historically very low level of jobless workers.

With 38 counties at 1 percent or less unemployment rates (not factoring in seasonal adjustment), the state may be entering unusual territory where unemployment is so low it can have some unintended consequences.