"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.
[to top of second column] |
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.
___
Click here for tables
of statistics:
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Employment Security
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |