Illinois Unemployment Rate Rises For Third Straight Month
CHICAGO (STMW) - The unemployment rate in Illinois jumped to 9.5 percent in July from a revised 9.1 percent in June, rising for the third straight month, and the state lost 24,900 jobs month-over-month, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The state's jobless rate now exceeds the national rate, the first time that's happened in 10 months. The national rate is 9.1 percent.
The report marks the second time jobs have fallen in Illinois since December 2010. In June, the state lost 7,200 jobs. Illinois has added 28,900 jobs to the economy so far this year.
The data "reflects the recent volatility in the national economy and the uncertainty both in the labor force and business community," IDES Director Jay Rowell said in a statement.
"Long-term data tells a more accurate story," he added.
The state's jobless rate is down from 10.1 percent in July 2010, the report showed.
There were 627,800 people unemployed in Illinois in July.
Month-over-month, the biggest job declines were in trade, transportation and utilities, down 7,900; leisure and hospitality, down 6,700; government, down 5,500; and construction, down 4,300.
Since July 2010, job losses were reported in government, down 5,700; financial activities, down 3,700; information, down 3,200 and other services down 1,600.
Job gains were reported year-over-year in educational and health services, up 16,100; construction, up 15,400; and manufacturing, up 11,300.
The state agency said uneven monthly reports of job growth and unemployment rates are common in a typical recovery, but noted changes in data collection at the federal level may be having an impact on the state's numbers. To ensure more reliable national statistics, federal authorities earlier this year made changes in how they conduct data estimates, and that reduces information from individual states, IDES said. As a result, there have been greater fluctuations in monthly jobs and employment data at the state level, according to the agency.
"How those changes might be reflected in July's data will not be known for several months," the agency said, adding most private economists expect the recovery from the national recession to continue but more gradually in the second half of the year.
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