Recent data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), backed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, revealed that a dozen of the state's major metropolitan zones saw over-the-year decreases in July unemployment.
"Our job growth rate is still half that of the rest of the country,” IDES Director Jeff Mays said. “Most of our job growth is concentrated primarily in the northeast corner of the state while downstate job growth continues to lag.”
In eight of the 12 areas, businesses increased the number of positions. The Elgin area, with 5,300 new jobs; Rockford area, with 2,900 new jobs; and the Lake County-Kenosha area, with 6,800 new openings, experienced the healthiest surges — at 2.1, 1.9 and 1.6 percent growth, respectively — while nonfarm jobs in the Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights metro zone gained 1.2 percent (44,900 jobs).
The five metro areas that witnessed job losses included Carbondale-Marion (-2.5 percent, a decrease of 1,400 jobs), the Quad Cities (-2.3 percent, a loss of 4,200 jobs), and Decatur (-1.5 percent, a decline of 800 jobs).
Industry sectors seeing the largest amount of recorded growth were retail trade; transportation, warehousing and utilities; education and health services; leisure and hospitality; and government.
The data, without seasonal adjustment, compares July 2016 to July 2015. The overall Illinois unemployment rate was 5.6 percent for July 2016.
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