IL Unemployment Numbers Slowly Decreasing

By Benjamin Cox on August 21, 2020 at 1:08pm

Illinois’ unemployment rate continues to try and climb back from the brink of the last two months. The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced yesterday that the unemployment rate fell 3.2 percentage points to 11.3% last month, while non-farm payrolls added over 93,000 jobs according to preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The June unemployment rate was revised downward from the preliminary report, from 14.6 percent to 14.5 percent.

Morgan County’s unemployment rate sat at 9.4% in the month of June after double digits in May. Cass County was also at 9.4% in June. Several counties did much better in the month of June: Greene was at 8.9%, Scott sat at 7.8%, Pike was at 8.1%, Schuyler was at 8.5%, and Brown was the lowest in the region at 6.1%. Sangamon and Macoupin counties were still in double digits, well over 10% in the month of June.

The state’s unemployment rate was 1.1% higher than the national unemployment rate reported for July, which was 10.2 percent, down almost a percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was up 7.4% from a year ago when it was 3.9%.

In July, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services, and Professional and Business Services. The industry sectors with the largest payroll declines were: Manufacturing, Construction, and Information. The unemployment numbers are likely a continued reflection of COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns in industries and the slowly reopening Illinois economy.