The state’s unemployment rate was 9-tenths of a percent higher than the national unemployment rate in December, which was 6.7%, unchanged from November. In December, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services; Trade, Transportation, and Utilities; and Construction, with each seeing gains over 8,000. The industry sector that reported the monthly payroll declines was Leisure and Hospitality, with nearly 41,000 losses.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimated 108,892 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Jan 11 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday. That number is over 14,000 claims higher than the week prior. County-wide unemployment numbers will be released next week by IDES.
