Illinois unemployment rate hits double digits
BY FRANCINE KNOWLES Business Reporter/fknowles@suntimes.com October 20, 2011 12:38PM
Updated: November 22, 2011 8:30AM
The unemployment rate in Illinois edged up to double digits in September, reaching 10 percent—a level not seen since August 2010, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday.
The rate rose from 9.9 percent in August 2011.
The state added 44,400 jobs year-over-year, and added 1,600 month-over-month.
“Consumer confidence drives the national economy and affects our economic growth here in Illinois, so these are not surprising figures,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said in a statement. “Job growth at this stage in the economic cycle often is accompanied by a slight increase in the unemployment rate. A broader confidence must be restored at the national level before individual states will show greater widespread growth.”
There were 663,300 unemployed people in the state last month, up by 10,500 from August, the agency said.
Industry sectors that lost jobs in September were construction, down 3,000 from August; financial activities, down 1,800 and information, down 1,200.
The biggest year-over-year declines were in government, down 13,200; information, down 4,300; and financial activities, down 4,200.
The biggest job gains occurred in educational and health services, up 4,900 from August and up 20,200 from September 2010; and in professional and business services, up 1,200 from August and up 14,000 from September 2010.
