* First the good news…
Illinois was one of just four states where the median household income rose last year, while Missouri and Virginia were the only ones that saw a decline. That income level in Illinois rose 1.4 percent to $55,137, while neighboring Missouri’s fell 1.6 percent to $45,321.
* Now the bad…
The latest federal data show that 14.7 percent of Illinoisans - 1.85 million people or one in seven residents of the state - were in poverty last year, down slightly from the 15 percent, or 1.88 million, in 2011. The national rate also remained discouragingly stuck at 15 percent - affecting 46.5 million Americans and marking the sixth year in a row the U.S. rate failed to improve.
* And the numbers might even be worse than depicted…
Illinois saw such a slight easing, coinciding with a drop in the state’s unemployment rate to 8.9 percent last year from 9.7 percent in 2011 and 10.4 percent in 2010, when Illinois’ jobless ranks were the highest since 1983, according the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Illinois’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for July was 9.2 percent.
With the increased unemployment rate, poverty may be again on the rise.
* Also this…
The breadth of Illinois’ poverty on a local level remains murky, given that census figures released Thursday only focused on counties with populations of at least 65,000, which in Illinois number just 23 of the state’s 102 counties. Those did not include most counties in largely rural southern Illinois, where high unemployment and poverty have notoriously deep roots.
*** UPDATE *** More bad news.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security reports today that the state’s unemployment rate for August was unchanged at 9.2 percent.
Oy.
