* From the Illinois Department of Employment Security…

The March unemployment rate was 9.5 percent, unchanged from February, according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). As expected, Illinois recorded -17,800 fewer jobs compared to February even as it added +36,600 over March 2012. The data is seasonally adjusted.

“Illinois employers were expected to report fewer positions in March. Economic uncertainty nationally and abroad dampened our country’s job growth. When that happens, Illinois’ share tends to be a negative number,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said. “Monthly snapshots capture a moment in time. When those moments are evaluated together, we see progress away from a global recession and through a stubborn economic growth cycle marked by volatile swings in monthly data here and across our country.”

The three-month moving average of job growth, a data point that smoothes monthly volatility and unpredictable or one time events, shows +1,100 jobs added each month so far this year.

Illinois has added +218,500 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 (+89,300); Education and Health Services (+57,800); and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+37,000). Government has lost the most jobs since January 2010, down -26,500.

Oy…

       

27 Comments - RonOglesby - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 12:27 pm: We’ve got to stop the bleeding. - Caveman - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 12:40 pm: Yay! We’re #48! - Responsa - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 12:44 pm: I’ve noticed that too frequently on this site when it is mentioned that businesses are closing, or shrinking, or will leave IL, the response of a number of respected commenters has been either denial or a curt “good riddance”. To “stop the bleeding” there has to be a recognition of the myriad factors– some fairly unique to this state– that are causing it to happen or are at least facilitating the job losses. - RonOglesby - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 12:52 pm: @Responsa, Hell yeah. We need to make it friendlier. To keep illinois together and pay back our debts, we need these business and new ones. Its complicated, but that is no reason for BOTH SIDES to start realizing our life blood is leaving the state. - LincolnLounger - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 12:54 pm: I suppose there are, indeed, a “myriad” of factors involved; however, it’s no secret that reckless spending, borrowing, pension indebtedness, and the largest tax increase in Illinois history is clearly not a prescription for job growth. The Democrats must see this and choose to ignore, and the Republicans are busy tearing themselves to bits over social issues. It seems hopeless. - Cincinnatus - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 12:55 pm: What a horrible recovery, statewide and nationwide. Geesh. - Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:00 pm: RECOVERY??? - LINK - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:03 pm: For what its worth as some might think that in the grand scheme of things that 17, 800 individuals without a job is a drop in the bucket. Put it into perspective and it would be like saying the entire town of Franfort, Illinois (population 17, 782) no longer matters… - Caveman - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:05 pm: @LincolnLounger, “the Republicans are busy tearing themselves to bits over social issues” And what are the priorities of the Dems?: gay marriage, gun control, medical marijuana, sex ed. Throw in immigration on the national level. Not many jobs in there! - Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:07 pm: @Caveman, try reading comments before you go after the commenter. He accused the Democrats of ignoring the job problem. Take a breath or go somewhere else. - Cassiopeia - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:15 pm: So there are currently 185,900 construction jobs in Illinois and Quinn’s construction plan are going to create 140,000 over six years. Somehow this doesn’t seem possible. Where exactly are these new employees supposed to come from. IDOT is similar to DCEO in that it wildly exaggerates job creation. They can’t even accurately count the ones that are created internally. Call them up sometime Rich. You will be amazed at their inability to produce reports proving their job creation. - Caveman - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:18 pm: @Rich Miller, point is the Reps are not tearing themselves up over social issues, the Dems are. The Reps are at least voicing displeasure over the spending, indebtedness, etc., even though they offer little or no legislation. But then how much chance would their attempts have in the Dem controlled state? - Loop Lady - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:23 pm: Fingerpointing and extreme partisanship is always so helpful in hard times Caveman, thanks for your unique problem solving skills… - Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:24 pm: - Where exactly are these new employees supposed to come from. - Is that a real question? Jobs estimates are not an exact science, but I hardly think there will be a shortage of workers to fill whatever construction jobs do materialize. - Sarge - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:32 pm: LINK and Loop Lady raise excellent points. These job losses are the equivalent of the destruction of one good-sized community. Will the causes or reasons for these losses get the attention a natural disaster would if it caused similar devastation? Nope. All we’ll get from across Illinois state government is finger pointing and excuses with nary a real solution (or even a proposed solution) anywhere in sight… - Chavez-respecting Obamist - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:39 pm: Caveman, what do you mean no jobs there? Weddings have an entire industry devoted to them, not to mention the fees licenses. Also we’ll need people to grow/harvest/package the pot, people qualified to teach sex ed, and of course someone to pilot the black helicopters and to take your guns away from you. - Commonsense in Illinois - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 1:59 pm: We lost 17,000 jobs “as expected”? Really? Although in a workforce of close to 600,000 a loss of 17,000 is roughly three percent, it’s still a big number and even in an “uncertain” economy on the national level, we “expected” the loss? Nope, I’m not buying. - RonOglesby - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 2:11 pm: Until the major news outlets and papers starting putting this stuff in the new casts, front page and asking the mayor, gov and MJM about it every time they open their pie hole… nothing will ever get done. - Caveman - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 2:24 pm: Here are a few more partisan facts: The national unemployment rate is 7.7% The average of the 5 states bordering Illinois is 7.1%. Illinois is 9.5%. And none of these figures account for the millions of workers who have given up looking for work. But lets not point fingers as that would not be helpful. Really? So it is not really any policy that has caused this. Just a bunch of random factors that cannot be tied together. Hmmm. - anon - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 2:29 pm: We should not allow ourselves to just fixate on “the jobs” either! Ask what kinds of jobs are we creating? We give someone a part-time temporary corporate tax break subsidised job to inflate “the jobs” numbers and act like they can now support themselves now — proclaim that our economy is growing? Oh please! Looking at the Illinois food stamp caseloads report might give us all a clue on what kind of jobs. As we brag about the 218,500 jobs added since Jan 2010 I give you this: “8/4/2010 Illinois Food Stamp Cases Continue to Rise to New Record Levels As Economy Continues to Struggle More Families Seek Help in Putting Food on the Table For the first time ever in Illinois, there are more than 780,000 families receiving Food Stamps (now known as SNAP, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) Secretary Michelle R.B. Saddler, today announced that the June caseload is 786,162 households, an 11.9 percent increase over June, 2009. The SNAP program is fully federally funded.” *** SNAP applications increased 27 percent from a year ago rising from 140,473 applications in June of 2009 to 178,415 applications in June 2010…. That wan’t even going back to Jan 2010. Wanna know what the food stamp caseloads are today? In Illinois it’s over 2 million, getting closer to the entire population of Chicago. Over the last year Illinois food stamp caseloads are up 11.5% and it’s worse than you might think! Why do I say it’s worse? Because look up the backlog that Illinois has and the employment cuts made to DHS. The consequences of the cuts and manpower shortages have created caseload backlogs and has the effect of under-reporting the welfare data don’t ya think? I certainly do. Woo-Hoo 218,500 jobs created since Jan 2010 eh and we’ve added about SIX TIMES that number to the states poverty level. And as CEO’s and politicians blame skill mismatches and education for the unemployment issue — one should question why does the nation have over 37 million student loans outstanding with close to 50% of them going into deferred or default status!? The so-called “American Dream” is dead. Housing is said to be a big driver of the economy. However how are these kids going to get a mortgage when they are already carrying a six-figure student loan that is likely to take 30 years to pay off? Or have bad credit becuase of a student loan default? Meanwhile a story in the Chicago Trib today boasts about jobs returning to city centers which I find laughable in Chicago’s case. The BLS report for the Chicago Economy At A Glance report shows a trend of job losses since Oct 2012 going on six months of consecutive declines. - wishbone - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 3:45 pm: The root cause of high unemployment is income inequality. Ninety percent of the population do not have sufficient income to create the consumer demand to support a reasonable level of employment. We can take steps to reallocate wealth in a way that does not hamper our capitalist system, and its necessary incentives to work and investment. Sad to say neither of our major political parties has a clue as to the cause of our problem, or how to deal with it. - anon - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 4:01 pm: We can just as easily pick the last employment peak to paint a picture of negative to flat employment growth as the propaganda used by picking the trough to show positive job growth. Looking at BLS historical data Illinois had a Total Employment of 6,018,495 in Dec. 1997 and 6,011,775 as of Feb. 2013. A loss of roughly 7,000 jobs over a sixteen year period. Where did all the new entrants to the labor force go for the last sixteen years? They aren’t working here in Illinois that’s for sure. Maybe they are all locked-up in the Illinois prison system eh? I don’t think incarcerated people are counted as part of the labor force by the BLS and you have to admit Illinois prisions are jammed packed. - Liandro - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 5:04 pm: I’m still waiting on Small Town Liberal to explain his position on the 39-year depreciation scale for real property. Granted, that is not Illinois specific, but rising tides and all… - Downstation - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 5:11 pm: Let’s laugh at how dumb Rick Perry is instead of paying attention to these figures. - Ruby - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 5:12 pm: Here in one idea. Employers could hire American IT workers who have a college degrees instead of hiring foreigners work visas. The lack of American workers with tech skills is a myth. - Ruby - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 5:15 pm: I meant to say employers could hire American IT workers who have a college degree instead of hiring foreigners with work visas. The lack of American workers with tech skills is a myth. - wordslinger - Thursday, Apr 18, 13 @ 9:50 pm: It’s a drag. What’s the growth industry? So many of our established industries thrive on super-efficiency — doing more with fewer workers, all the time. Housing and construction were the engine for a long time. Home equity loans and lines of credit were a great source of wealth for consumers and drove purchases. They’ve been stuck in the mud for a while. I’ll take fracking, legalized weed, any kind of infrastructure at low rates — consumers drive growth, and consumers needs jobs. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.