From the Pritzker Administration:
Illinois Unemployment Rate Drops to New Historical Low in December
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -0.1 percentage point to 3.7 percent, a new historical low, while nonfarm payrolls added +8,000 jobs in December, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES.
The November monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report from -17,200 to -13,400 jobs.
The state’s unemployment rate is +0.2 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for December 2019, which was 3.5 percent, unchanged from the previous month.
The Illinois unemployment rate was down -0.6 percentage point from a year ago when it was 4.3 percent.
Illinois payroll employment has shown variability since the beginning of the year, as have national payrolls.
Average payroll employment in Illinois during the October to December three-month period, which provides a more stable measure of payroll employment change, was up +900 jobs, compared to the September to November three-month period.
The largest average gains were found in
- Educational and Health Services (+2,900),
- Leisure and Hospitality (+1,900) and
- Government (+1,700).
“Over the past year, Governor Pritzker has worked hard to improve Illinois’ economy and create the conditions for good jobs around the state that will build long-term economic success,” said Deputy Governor Dan Hynes.
“From the bipartisan balanced budget and historic Rebuild Illinois infrastructure plan to lifting up workers and families by raising the minimum wage, this administration is creating an economy that works for everyone.”
“Governor Pritzker has implemented a number of policies and strategies that continue to address the needs of the diverse Illinois workforce,” said Erin Guthrie, Acting Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. “The Five-Year Economic and Rebuild Illinois Plans, coupled with the minimum wage increase, are steps that will help create a symbiotic environment in which businesses and workers can thrive.”
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +45,000 jobs with the largest gains in: Educational and Health Services (+17,100), Leisure and Hospitality (+16,900), and Government (+13,400). The industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines were: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-4,600), Manufacturing (-1,900) and Construction (-1,200). Illinois nonfarm payrolls were up +0.7 percent over-the-year as compared to the nation’s +1.4 percent over-the-year gain in December.
The number of unemployed workers decreased from the prior month, -2.4 percent to 240,100, a new record low, and was down -13.2 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force was down -0.3 percent over-the-month but up +0.1 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment.
An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work. IDES maintains the state’s largest job search engine, Illinois Job Link (IJL), to help connect jobseekers to employers who are hiring, which recently showed 60,792 posted resumes with 90,561 jobs available.
Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates
Illinois Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Jobs – by Major Industry
- 2014-2018 seasonally adjusted labor force data for Illinois, and all other states, have been revised as required by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly historical revisions to state labor force estimates reflect new national benchmark controls, state working-age population controls, seasonal factors, as well as updated total nonfarm jobs and unemployment benefits claims inputs. Illinois labor force data were also smoothed to eliminate large monthly changes as a result of volatility in the monthly Census Population Survey (CPS) and national benchmarking. For these reasons, the comments and tables citing unemployment rates in previous news releases/materials may no longer be valid.
- Monthly seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for Illinois and the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metropolitan Division are available here.
- Monthly 1990-2018 seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment data for Illinois have been revised. To control for potential survey error, the estimates are benchmarked annually to universal counts derived primarily from unemployment insurance tax reports.
- Not seasonally adjusted jobs data with industry detail are available here. “Other Services” include activities in three broad categories: personal and laundry; repair and maintenance; and religious, grant making, civic and professional organizations. Seasonally adjusted data for subsectors within industries are not available.
I think Illinois Authorities should have Insult Comics at all State entry points.
Testing anyone entering, for their ability to take a freaking joke.
How about a special tax on under 106IQ, morbidly obese billionaires who never worked a single day in their blasted lives but spread boatloads of leftist crap and claim credit of things they could have never accomplished if they’d have lived to be 10,000 years old!
How stupid do these idiots think we are?
Skewed info and yes it’s down cause companies and people are leaving this toilet bowl?
Doh!
Fred Flintstone
Cal can you tell me who from McHenry County in the state legislature voted for the bill that the governor signed giving students time off to go to vote!
this is a disgrace; students have more than ample time to get to their polling place,to early vote, or vote-by-mail.
And I hope no one tells me this is to encourage kids to get out to vote.
They should be grateful to have the right and the privilege to vote.
This proves Democrats have a very serious ignorance problem.
If it’s not ignorance they’re truly evil for not gaining enough education to know they’re too ignorant to lead.
Education, Health Services, Leisure, Hospitality and Government are all job categories built after foundational economic drivers flourish.
The largest losses of jobs comes from each of those foundational industries which actually create wealth.
Mining, Oil and Lumber jobs aren’t even mentioned.
Governor Pritzker has taken credit for this massive GDP drain.
Nicely done moron.
An economy built on debt with the industries and wealth leaving the state isn’t an economy.
It’s a fraud.
This bunch of radically brain dead politicians needs to be removed from positions where they can harm themselves and others.
Accountability is available.
It’s been done before in history.
Its preferable to societal death.
Hey Priest…are you talking about the $2,000,000,000,000.00 debt that Republicans have piled on us?
“An economy built on debt with the industries and wealth leaving the state isn’t an economy.
It’s a fraud.
This bunch of radically brain dead politicians needs to be removed from positions where they can harm themselves and others.
Accountability is available.
It’s been done before in history.
Its preferable to societal death.”
Republicans?
At what level of government?
Where?
Are you implying Republicans have any responsibility past complicity in this State?
Democrats lead, have led and will continue to lead the government of Illinois for the foreseeable future.
Susan, once again, has proposed a new Citizen Police to arrest politicians complicit in the destruction of this State.
Any Law Enforcement would have to start with Democrats and all their sycophantic bureaucracy in Illinois.
Explain your flippant statement further Dentbla as what you wrote makes zero sense and cannot be taken seriously at all.
Oh and Robberies are UP so no need to get jobs!
these days… just rip off ATM”s and Pot stores…
Dentblah must on parole, but for what?