The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate in June decreased 0.2 percentage points to 6.2 percent and nonfarm payrolls decreased by -2,200 jobs, based on preliminary data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and IDES. The decrease in Illinois’ unemployment rate is largely due to a decline in the labor force. Job growth is still below the national average, with Illinois -51,500 jobs short of its peak employment level reached in September 2000.
“In June, Illinois experienced yet another exodus and over-the-year job growth is still at half the national rate,” Director Jeff Mays said. “As we do our part in expanding services that help jobseekers find work more quickly, structural reforms are necessary to get the state’s economy back on track.”
“We’ve lost more than 9,000 manufacturing jobs over the last year, and replacing those middle class jobs has been an uphill battle due to the high costs facing Illinois businesses,” Illinois Department of Commerce Acting Director Sean McCarthy said. “Manufacturing has been a critical part of our state’s economy, providing stable, good paying jobs for Illinois families. We need action on structural reforms to Illinois’ dysfunctional worker’s compensation, regulation, and tax systems to make our state competitive and bring solid middle class jobs back to Illinois.”
In June, the three industry sectors with the largest gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services (+3,000); Financial Activities (+1,700); and Other Services (+1,500). The two industry sectors with the largest declines in employment were: Educational and Health Services (-7,300) and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-1,000).
Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +41,300 jobs with the largest gains in Leisure and Hospitality (+19,100); and Professional and Business Services (+16,700). Industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines in June include: Manufacturing (-9,100) and Information Services (-2,700). The 0.7 percent over-the-year gain in Illinois is less than the 1.7 percent gain posted by the nation in June.
The state’s unemployment rate is higher than the national unemployment rate reported for June 2016, which increased to 4.9 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate stood 0.4 percentage points above the unemployment rate a year ago when it was 5.8 percent.
The number of unemployed workers decreased -4.1 percent from the prior month to 409,300, up +8.5 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force grew by +1.9 percent in June over the prior year, but decreased 0.5 percent over-the-month. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and are seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
- Ghost - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 12:43 pm:
So the largest decrease is in health services…. the gov has been slashing health services and not oaying health services providers. the gov is proposing work comp reform that will cut health service provider reimbursement rates…. and this is the policy to make it better???
seems like the loss is due to the fovenors cutting health services and desire to reduce them; and the desire to reduce work comp health services teimbursement. not sure how making it worse is a good plan….
but i do think work comp rates should match the social security reimbursement table
because im complicated…..
- Anon221 - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 12:47 pm:
Ah, the IDES of July…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k1ZV12cMy4
- 47th Ward - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 12:49 pm:
Everybody in Cleveland is gloomy about this economy too, despite lots of evidence to the contrary. One report I saw interviewed delegates who said where they live, everything was great, lots of jobs and opportunities, but overall, the country was in an economic tailspin.
Where do they get that idea? Oh, right. The “narrative.” Got it.
- Keyser Soze - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 12:55 pm:
This is exciting news.
- benniefly2 - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 12:57 pm:
“Manufacturing has been a critical part of our state’s economy, providing stable, good paying jobs for Illinois families. We need action on structural reforms to Illinois’ dysfunctional worker’s compensation, regulation, and tax systems to make our state competitive and bring solid middle class jobs back to Illinois”
And by competitive, they must mean bringing in all of the environmental laws, wage scales, and lack of worker protections from Mexico and Costa Rica, because, it seems, that companies like Panduit and Caterpillar can’t move their manufacturing facilities down there fast enough these days.I am afraid that there are no workman’s comp or regulatory reforms to be had that will be able to compete against paying workers the equivalent of $3 to $5 per hour with no tangible benefits to speak of.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 12:58 pm:
Where did they get that idea that the economy is gloomy?
Not a narrative- it is reality for all but the top 20 percent of people in this country. Real wages have declined and everything people spend money on has increased.
- Pepper Brooks - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:01 pm:
They are gloomy because Illinois lost jobs in this report and the labor force shrank by a lot. There is basically nothing positive in this report.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:01 pm:
==structural reforms are necessary ==
I think that statement is required in every single communication from a state agency these days.
Still waiting for the day when news like this is treated even moderately as good news. I suspect that day won’t come until the Governor gets his “reforms.”
- illinois manufacturer - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:02 pm:
It looks similar to national that shows a stagnant economy with gradual manufacturing decline.I can’t see how there was a government increase. Also those waiter bartender numbers might be a little high because the business birth death model has been off.I would like to see comparison to say Indiana.
- Pepper Brooks - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:05 pm:
Demoralized — go ahead and find the positive data in this report and sell it.
The unemployment rate down solely because of a huge chunk of people dropping out of the workforce.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:18 pm:
=structural reforms are necessary to get the state’s economy back on track.”=
Hmmm…I wonder if the $8-$10 billion in bills owed by the state has any impact on unemployment?
Paying bills that are owed might be the biggest “structural reform” necessary.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:26 pm:
JS Mill do you really believe all that is needed to get Illinois back on track is an 8-10 billion dollar tax increase? Do you think that maybe unemployment might go up if that is all we did because the higher taxes ( on small businesses especially )would reduce the available funds to pay workers ?
- Henry Francis - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:31 pm:
LP - what happened to the unemployment rate after the previous tax increase?
- Lester Holt's Mustache - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:35 pm:
==JS Mill do you really believe all that is needed to get Illinois back on track is an 8-10 billion dollar tax increase?==
Why not? Tax rate dropped by 67% (Quinn tax!) just before Gov took office - where are all the jobs that lower taxes were supposed to bring? All we ever hear is that higher taxes would kill job creation, yet you have nothing beyond platitudes to show that lower taxes create jobs in Illinois.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:36 pm:
I’m most worried about that participation rate. It’s the “I’ve given up” rate. We’ve got to get those folks back in. period
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:36 pm:
==Real wages have declined and everything people spend money on has increased.==
Jeff Mays is not a fan of unions. (He may like them less than the Governor, if that is possible.) Too bad Unions are one of the keys to raising wages…
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:40 pm:
===It’s the “I’ve given up” rate===
Yes, it’s also the I’m retiring rate. Population is aging out of the workforce.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:49 pm:
Good point Rich, my bad.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:53 pm:
Tax rate did not drop 67 percent. It dropped from 5 percent to 3.75 (a 25 percent decline) as it was intended to. No one believes it will stay there.
The Governor believes that something must be done to convince people and businesses to move here we need to change the way our state operates.
Why would someone want to invest in Illinois until our state can actually manage our finances and stop trying to pass budgets 7 billion dollars out of balance?
- Ron - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:01 pm:
More of the same from the public employee union class. Illinois would be a economic powerhouse if we only had the highest taxes in the nation. We’re number three now. 2015 was the best year of job growth in Illinois in years.
Chicago is blowing past its peak employment in spite of the drag that downstate and Springfield are to us.
Stick with it Guv, the unions are squirming.
- Ron - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:04 pm:
Unfortunately, the unions don’t really care about anything but their own pocket. Time to bust em.
- Lester Holt's Mustache - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:10 pm:
==Tax rate did not drop 67 percent. It dropped from 5 percent to 3.75 (a 25 percent decline) ==
Oh I see - so during the election, when you and many others here were repeatedly accusing Quinn and the D’s of ramming through a 67% tax hike that killed job creation was correct. But now that your boy is Gov and the tax rate has dropped, all those jobs that were supposed to magically appear were never created because of other reasons. It’s hard to keep up with your constantly evolving logic sometimes.
- 13th - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:17 pm:
Wonder how many people unemployment ran out and so therefore are not being counted anymore in the numbers
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:30 pm:
Math is hard but the numbers do indicate that the Illinois economy has had a much slower recovery than the rest of the country and our unemployment has remained the worst in the nation since the 2011 tax increase.
Normally both parties would recognize we need to do something to encourage economic development. Instead all we hear is the problem is Rauner’s pro business anti Union reforms but very little about the democrats anti business platform.
- Honeybear - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:45 pm:
–Why would someone want to invest in Illinois until our state can actually manage our finances and stop trying to pass budgets 7 billion dollars out of balance?–
I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Amazon?
- Lester Holt's Mustache - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:53 pm:
I’ll grant that D’s have offered little to nothing in the way of a pro-business platform, but don’t ignore the benefits that more revenue going to the state could produce. If colleges filled positions lost due to cuts, social service agencies rehired those laid off because the state doesn’t pay what they owe, single moms could go back to work with child care cuts reversed, and state filled positions left empty - those would all make a fair debt in our unemployment rate. Instead we get more preaching about “job creators” suffering from high taxes, and Bigbrain on the 2nd floor causing all of this so he can maybe sorta impose rtw. The ROI on this style of governance would get you fired in the private sector.
- Sue - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 2:59 pm:
So since Indiana is next door and has similar demographics- why the difference- DOH- could the fact we have a Democratic legislature beholden to public sector unions have anything to do with our dismal employment and state finances?
- Lester Holt's Mustache - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:03 pm:
Also, if vendors were finally paid what they were owed perhaps they would do some hiring as well. No one here seems to want to admit that map reform wasn’t the only referenda that Illinoisans approve of. We approved a millionaires tax, too, but here you’d think it never happened.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:07 pm:
==do you really believe all that is needed to get Illinois back on track is an 8-10 billion dollar tax increase==
Some day Lucky you’ll manage to grasp the concept that just because someone doesn’t support the Governor’s “reforms” doesn’t mean they believe that only one thing is necessary as a solution.
- Fred - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:10 pm:
==JS Mill do you really believe all that is needed to get Illinois back on track is an 8-10 billion dollar tax increase? ==
The tax dollars aren’t placed in a big pile and set on fire.
Its a transfer from those who pay taxes to those who provided the services and haven’t been paid.
Economically overall, its neither a stimulus nor a drag. (both the taxpayers and the service providers will take the money they have and spend it.)
Morally, paying for what you bought seems like a sound proposition.
===Yes, it’s also the I’m retiring rate. Population is aging out of the workforce.===
This is not going make paying our pension bills any easier. Gonna need to grow employment and attract new working age folks.
- Lester Holt's Mustache - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:18 pm:
Sue, it’s not my site but if it were, you’d be disqualified from responses until you retract your “plantation” comment from yesterday. You should be ashamed of yourself for that.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:24 pm:
Demoralized, some day you will realize not a single reform has passed out of Mike Madigan’s rules committee in 18 months and the Democrats who vote against reform should be held accountable.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:45 pm:
Lucky:
Nice to see you still are unable to grasp the concept. What part of opposing the Governor’s “reforms” doesn’t mean we want the status quo don’t you understand.
- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 3:53 pm:
I get the concept that only one party is pushing for reforms. The Democrats don’t like the Governor’s proposed reforms but they have none of their own. Until enough people contact their legislators of both parties we will continue the status quo.
- Precinct Captain - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:13 pm:
==- Lucky Pierre - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 1:26 pm:==
You and the Raunerbots have really gone wacky today. So an 8 billion dollar theft by the state of services from businesses in this state is what is necessary? Totally crackpot.
- train111 - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 4:26 pm:
Joined that unemployment population last week for the first time in 25 rears. Was engineering support for a factory that now resides in sunny Ciudad Juarez. I don’t know what the answer is for keeping manufacturing here. The parent company pays no federal taxes whatsoever- so is that really the reason for the loss? They also contributed to 337 out of 435 incumbent congresscritters-so I don’t see them paying any federal taxes soon either.
- Ron - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 5:59 pm:
Illinois has the second worst unemployment rate in the country. I’m sure increasing taxes in order to pay for coddled public employees will make everything better.
- Last Bull Moose - Thursday, Jul 21, 16 @ 6:57 pm:
Fortunately we have a large base of businesses that developed during the years we provided high levels of state and educational services while underpaying the taxes needed to pay for them.