* IDES…
The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate rose +0.1 percentage point to 4.5 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased by +4,100 in August, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The July monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +31,200 to +35,000 jobs. The July unemployment rate was unchanged from the preliminary report, remaining at 4.4 percent. The August payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
In August, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment include: Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+4,500), Construction (+3,500), and Government (+1,500). The industry sectors that reported the largest monthly payroll declines include: Manufacturing (-3,200), Professional and Business Services (-2,600), and Information (-500). […]
The state’s unemployment rate was +0.8 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for August, which was 3.7 percent, up +0.2 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was down -1.5 percentage points from a year ago when it was at 6.0 percent.
Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +239,700 jobs, with gains across nearly all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases include: Leisure and Hospitality (+58,600), Professional and Business Services (+51,900), and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+50,800). The Mining sector reported no change in payroll employment over-the-year. In August, total nonfarm payrolls were up +4.1 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +4.0 percent in the nation.
The number of unemployed workers was up from the prior month, a +1.1 percent increase to 290,200 and was down -23.0 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was almost unchanged (0.0 percent) over-the-month and up +2.0 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
* Meanwhile, here’s the Tribune…
In Illinois last year, 7% of residents — about 875,000 people — lacked health insurance coverage, according to U.S. Census data released Thursday. […]
Nationally, about 8.6% of people were uninsured last year, according to data from the Census’ American Community Survey. […]
The percentages of Black and Latino people in Illinois without insurance were much higher than the percentage of white people lacking coverage. About 7.9% of Black Illinois residents and 15.8% of Hispanic or Latino people didn’t have insurance in 2021, compared with only 4.3% of white people. […]
In Illinois, the percentage of people uninsured, by income, was highest among those who had household incomes of $25,000 to $49,999. About 10.8% of people in that income group in Illinois were uninsured.
* Related…
* Education advocate Jitu Brown learned the fight for equity in Chicago: Brown started KOCO’s youth development and youth leadership programs. As he worked with the students, schools began to take an interest. They wanted, in particular, Black men to bring their experience and knowledge into the classrooms. So Brown did. And as he did, the inequity in the schools became quite clear. “You’re working with these young people, but you’re noticing that at this school, there’s one computer in the entire class and there’s no air conditioning,” he recalled. “Then I’m also going to schools and other communities and I’m working with student councils. You walk in and the school is bright. The classrooms are small. They got world language. They have counselors. They have teacher aides in every class.”
