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Jobs up, but IDES disappointed

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Illinois

* Press release…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate in October edged up to 5.6 percent and nonfarm payrolls increased by +2,200 jobs over the month, based on preliminary data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and IDES. September job growth was revised up to show an increase of +11,500 rather than the preliminary figures of +7,400 jobs. Nonetheless, job growth is still below the national average, with Illinois -32,500 jobs short of its peak employment level reached in September 2000.

Construction payrolls decreased by -3,300 jobs in October which added to the three-month momentum against manufacturing and construction jobs as well as financial activities and trade, transportation and utilities. Three-month momentum favors professional and business services as well as government employment and to a lesser extent leisure and hospitality and education and health services.

“Illinois continues to recover at a slower rate than the rest of the nation as witnessed by the meager payroll gains in October,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “The recovery has been uneven among the various sectors as Illinois still lags in manufacturing, construction, and financial activities as well as trade, transportation and utilities.”

“High costs and competition from surrounding states continue to drain manufacturing jobs from Illinois. We saw several manufacturers move across the border to Wisconsin in October,” Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity Acting Director Sean McCarthy said. “1,600 new manufacturing jobs is a start, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the 10,000 manufacturing jobs Illinois has lost over the last twelve months – an average loss of nearly 200 jobs per week. We can build on this month’s growth by making Illinois more competitive and affordable for manufacturers.”

In October, the three industry sectors with the largest gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services (+4,800); Government (+2,000); and Manufacturing (+1,600). The three industry sectors with the largest declines in employment were: Construction (-3,300); Other Services (-3,100); and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-1,000).

Over the year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +29,500 jobs with the largest gains in two industry sectors: Professional and Business Services (+31,400); and Leisure and Hospitality (+16,500). Industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines in October include: Manufacturing (-10,000), Construction (-5,500) and Financial Activities (-5,100). The +0.5 percent over-the-year gain in Illinois is less than the +1.7 percent gain posted by the nation in October.

The state’s unemployment rate is higher than the national unemployment rate reported for October 2016, which edged down to 4.9 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate is down -0.3 percentage points from a year ago when it was 5.9 percent.

The number of unemployed workers increased +1.7 percent from the prior month to 366,600, down -5.3 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force was nearly unchanged over-the-month and grew by +0.6 percent in October over the prior year. 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.

Thoughts?

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:25 pm

Comments

Of course IDES is disappointed.

For nearly two years now, by reneging on contracts, stiffing higher ed, piling up billions in unpaid bills to Illinois vendors and failing to come up with a capital plan, this governor has been working night and day to put people out of business and work.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:35 pm
Shut down more service agencies and a couple of state universities. That’ll fix those feeble employment numbers right up.

Comment by IllinoisBoi Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:37 pm
Maybe those 32,000 are the ones who left the state.

Comment by My New Handle Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:39 pm
Wait until you see the numbers after AFSCME goes on strike. /s?

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:42 pm
Sorry but positive news does not fit the narrative. That is all.

Comment by Highland IL Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 12:52 pm
Right now, those are bad numbers to fit the Governor’s narrative. Now if Illinois had right-to-work last year, these numbers and be highly touted.

Comment by The_Equalizer Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 1:31 pm
Acting Director of DCEO says this apparently not understanding what his job is

We saw several manufacturers move across the border to Wisconsin in October,” Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity Acting Director Sean McCarthy said. “1,600 new manufacturing jobs is a start, but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the 10,000 manufacturing jobs Illinois has lost over the last twelve months – an average loss of nearly 200 jobs per week.

I kid, I kid, we all know his job is not to improve the economic opportunity in the state but rather to repeat the administration’s talking points.

Comment by Henry Francis Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 1:45 pm
RNUNG, I’m not sure AFSCME will vote to go on strike.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 2:01 pm
Henry Francis how should McCarthey get those companies to stay?

Comment by Bob Cat Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 2:12 pm
== I’m not sure AFSCME will vote to go on strike. ==

I can’t speak to all the locals, but I know one that most likely will.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 2:30 pm
Until this governor, Governor Rauner, goes to traditional governing and embraces “good” news instead of spinning “good” to bad for an agenda that can’t get 60 and 30, it really doesn’t matter what the Rauner Word Jumble says about any focal news, be it traditionally “good” or bad.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 3:25 pm
One can expect job losses in the manufacturing sector from increased automation, regardless of other factors. Job losses in transportation will also occur if driverless motor vehicles become a reality. Some financial services and professional services are also at risk of job losses as a result of developments in expert systems, automated language processing, and machine learning algorithms. Such automated information systems have been shown to perform as well as, or better than, human experts, at a fraction of the price.

Comment by ultra Thursday, Nov 17, 16 @ 9:58 pm