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ILLINOIS
UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS RISE AGAIN, RANKING IT 2ND-WORST IN U.S.
Illinois Policy Institute/
Brad Weisenstein
While
the nation gets back to work, Illinois unemployment claims rose again.
The past week ranked Illinois 50th out of 51, including Washington, D.C. |
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 Illinois’ initial unemployment claims rose again last week,
ranking the state’s COVID-19 economic recovery the nation’s second-worse.
The number of requests for unemployment benefits was 108,808 for the week ending
Jan. 23, up from 95,472 the week before that. There were 337,148 Illinoisans
receiving benefits as of Jan. 16, which was up 21,823 from the prior week.
Benefits data lags initial claims data by a week.
Illinois’ increased joblessness runs counter to the national trend. New claims
dropped by 67,000 last week to 847,000 in the U.S. Those receiving ongoing
benefits dropped by 203,000 to 4.77 million nationwide for the week ended Jan.
16.
 Every state but Kansas outpaced Illinois’ anemic recovery last week, according
to rankings by WalletHub. The rankings are based on unemployment claims compared
to the prior week, to a year earlier and to the start of the pandemic.
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Illinois saw new claims spike when Tier 3
mitigation mandates were imposed Nov. 20 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker,
closing all indoor service at bars and restaurants as cold weather
set in and made outdoor service difficult. Those restrictions were
eased for most of the state Jan. 23, allowing limited indoor dining.
Only the Metro East region that includes Madison, St. Clair, Monroe,
Randolph, Clinton, Bond and Washington counties remained under Tier
2 restrictions that still prohibit indoor dining and bar service.
The region’s COVID-19 positivity rate was dropping, with 7.5%
recorded Jan. 25, as were ICU and hospitalization rates.
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