Illinois adds 3,800 jobs in January
122,900
private sector jobs added since recovery began
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[March 02, 2012]
CHICAGO -- Illinois added 3,800 jobs in
January and the unemployment rate fell 0.3, to 9.4 percent,
according to preliminary data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau
of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment
Security. This is the fifth consecutive monthly decline and the
largest decline since September 1992. The data is seasonally
adjusted.
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"January adds another month in the long-term trend of putting people
back to work," said IDES Director Jay Rowell. "Adding private sector
jobs in 21 of the past 25 months and recording the largest monthly
decrease in the unemployment rate in nearly 20 years is progress
that people can see."
Illinois has added 122,900 private sector jobs since January
2010, when job growth returned to Illinois after 23 consecutive
months of declines. Since January 2010, leading growth sectors in
Illinois are professional and business services, up 66,400;
educational and health services, up 29,700; manufacturing, up
26,000; and trade, transportation and utilities, 17,800. Government
has lost the most jobs since January 2010, down 24,700.
Historically, the national unemployment rate is lower than the
state rate. Only seven times since January 2000 has the state rate
been lower than the nation's. That period includes times of economic
expansion and contraction. In January 2012, the number of unemployed
individuals was down for the fifth consecutive month, decreasing
18,100, or 2.8 percent, to 620,300. Total unemployed has declined
132,500, or 17.6 percent, since January 2010, when the state
unemployment rate peaked at 11.4 percent.
The rate identifies those who are out of work and seeking
employment. People who exhaust their benefits, or are ineligible,
still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively
seek work.
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The IDES supports economic stability by administering unemployment
benefits, collecting business contributions to fund those benefits,
connecting employers with qualified job seekers, and providing
economic information to assist career planning and economic
development. It does so through nearly 60 offices, including
Illinois workNet centers.
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See tables: Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment
Rates and Illinois Seasonally Adjusted Non-farm Jobs – by Major
Industry
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Employment Security
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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