April unemployment rates rising in Illinois

By Ryne Turke on May 27, 2016 at 1:02pm

April unemployment numbers are on the rise across Illinois.

Taking a look at local statistics, Morgan County’s unemployment rose from 4.1 percent in April of 2015 to 4.9 percent this year. Scott County went from 5.0 to 5.5 percent, Greene County jumped from 5.1 to 6.2 percent and Cass County rose from 4.9 to 5.7 percent.

The over-the-year numbers for the four county area combined went from 4.5 to 5.4 percent.

Ron Payne with the Illinois Department of Employment Security explains why unemployment number continue to rise.

“The labor force is comprised of the employed plus unemployed. When we have an expanding labor force, typically it is people who are new entrants looking for a job. When they find a job the unemployment rate gets lower. Typically when you see this big increase in the labor force then  unemployment rates are a bit higher.”

The four county area saw an increase of jobs in financial activities, retail trade, health services, professional services and wholesale trade. Payne says the rest of the job market was relatively stable.

Payne expects the May data to contain bigger numbers in leisure, hospitality and construction sectors.