Illinois adds 12,400 jobs in February
Job growth
encourages more people to look for work
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[March 27, 2013]
CHICAGO -- Illinois added 12,400
jobs in February, continuing a three-year pattern of job growth that
has intensified in the past seven months. Job growth has encouraged
more people to look for work, especially those who gave up during
the recession. Their re-entry into the labor force pushed the
February unemployment rate to 9.5 percent, according to preliminary
data released March 21 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and
the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Data is seasonally
adjusted.
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"This is the counterintuitive part of an economic recovery. If job
creation is picking up, how can unemployment be picking up as well?"
said IDES Director Jay Rowell. "Job growth gives workers who
previously gave up their job search hope that they, too, will be
hired. As such, they re-energize their work search, jump back into
the labor force and push up the unemployment rate." Over the year,
from February 2012 to February 2013, Illinois added 64,600 new
private sector jobs. Illinois has added 231,200 private sector jobs
since January 2010, when job growth returned following nearly two
years of consecutive monthly declines. Illinois has recorded job
growth in 28 of the past 38 months. Leading growth sectors are
professional and business services, up 94,700; education and health
services, up 53,700; and trade, transportation and utilities, up
45,500. Government has lost the most jobs since January 2010, down
25,500.
In February 2013, the number of unemployed individuals increased
34,900, or 5.9 percent, to 629,400. Total unemployed has fallen
122,800, or 16.3 percent, since early 2010, when the state
unemployment rate peaked at 11.3 percent for the months of January
and February.
Illinois businesses are hiring. More than 100,000 help-wanted ads
are on
IllinoisJobLink.com, the IDES employment website that links job
seekers with employers. Keyword-matching technology increases the
likelihood of a successful new hire and compares favorably with
private efforts that cost hundreds of dollars. No-cost human
resources recruitment services are available at the website and by
calling 877-342-7533.
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The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and
seeking employment. Individuals who exhaust their benefits, or are
ineligible, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they
actively seek work. Historically, the national unemployment rate is
lower than the state rate. The state rate has been lower than the
national rate only six times since January 2000.
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Click here for tables
of statistics:
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Employment Security
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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