Aurora Regional Chamber of Commerce : Illinois Unemployment Uptick Higher than Nation

Department of Employment Security (DES) reports that December 2015 jobless rate rose by 0.2% over November.

The year-end unemployment rate of 5.9% was 0.9% higher than the nationwide rate of 5.0%, and reflected a decline of 16,300 jobs in Illinois. This decline coincided with a month in which overall U.S. total employment rose by 292,000 jobs. IDES reports that Illinois had 3,000 fewer nonfarm payroll jobs in December 2015 than were filled by working Illinois residents twelve months earlier. These figures show that the Illinois job recovery from the 2018-14 downturn, after moving forward very slowly for multiple years, completely stalled in 2015.

Cross-tabs contained within the Department's report made clear that much of the weakness had been concentrated in the retail sector, defined for unemployment-reporting purposes as 'Trade, Transportation and Utilities.' Seasonally adjusted trade/transportation jobs declined by 12,100 from November 2015, making this the weakest sector in this Illinois month-to-month report. Retail job creation continued to be affected by the continued transition of significant subsets of Christmas retail activity to non-traditional distribution pathways. On a year-to-year basis, however, the weakest Illinois sector continued to be manufacturing, with Illinois factories maintaining 14,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in December 2015 than had been on Illinois payrolls in December 2014.

The Department also reported on where joblessness was concentrated in the final calendar month of 2015. Metro areas with unemployment significantly higher than the 5.9% statewide rate included Carbondale (6.5%), Danville (7.4%), Decatur (7.4%), Kankakee (7.0%), Peoria (7.0%) and Rockford (7.2%). Joblessness, as in previous months, was disproportionately felt in Downstate cities and metropolitan areas traditionally oriented toward manufacturing and industry.

Illinois' 5.9% jobless rate continued to be significantly higher than the rates posted in many neighboring states. The December 2015 rates in states that border on Illinois were as follows: Indiana, 4.4%; Iowa, 3.4%; Kentucky, 5.3%; Missouri, 4.4%; and Wisconsin, 4.3%. During the same 12-month period that Illinois lost 3,000 net nonfarm payroll jobs, Indiana generated 57,100 net new jobs, Iowa generated 25,600 net new jobs, Kentucky generated 40,200 net new jobs, and Missouri generated 26,000 net new jobs.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 30th, 2016 at 2:46 pm and is filed under advocacy, economic development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.