 "Today's milestone is encouraging. It highlights the progress that has been made
and underscores that there is much more to do," said IDES Director Jay Rowell.
"Job growth in manufacturing and retail trade is encouraging. Manufacturing
number shows continued growth in Illinois, and retail trade growth anticipates
shoppers willing to spend, with the potential for additional hires in November."
The September and October reports are combined in Illinois and elsewhere as a
result of the temporary federal government shutdown, which delayed the
collection of data at the state and federal level.
Illinois has added 268,900 private sector jobs since January 2010, when job
growth returned following nearly two years of consecutive monthly declines.
Leading growth sectors are professional and business services, up 117,700;
education and health services, up 57,700; and trade, transportation and
utilities, up 51,600. Government has lost the most jobs since January 2010, down
27,300.
Since January 2010, Illinois has recorded job growth in 34 months and loss in
12 months, when comparing each month with the previous one. The unemployment
rate fell in 26 months, increased in nine and was unchanged in 11.
The unemployment rate's three-month moving average, which smoothes monthly
volatility, was unchanged at 9.1 percent in October. The number of unemployed
individuals fell in October for the third consecutive month, down 12,600, or 2.1
percent, to 579,400. Total unemployment has fallen 172,800, or 23.0 percent,
since early 2010, when the state unemployment rate peaked at 11.3 percent for
the months of January and February.
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The unemployment 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. 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. ___
For the tables listed below,
click here:
[Text from
Illinois Department of
Employment Security
file received from the
Illinois Office of Communication and Information]
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