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742,000 new unemployment claims nationwide - 46,526 in Illinois - State unemployment rate fell 3.6 points to 6.8 percent in October

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Illinois

The pace of workers filing for unemployment claims picked up last week and was a bit higher than Wall Street had been expecting.

Jobless claims totaled 742,000 for the week, the Labor Department reported Thursday, ahead of the 710,000 estimate from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

That total also represented an acceleration from the previous week’s 709,000 and a continuation of the job market struggles since the coronavirus pandemic hit in early March.

The week-over-week increase was the first after four straight weeks of decline. Even with the increase for the most recent period, the four-week moving average, which smooths volatility in the numbers, decreased 13,750 to 742,00.

* CBS 2…

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 46,526 new unemployment claims were filed during the week of Nov. 9 in Illinois, according to the DOL’s weekly claims report released Thursday. […]

There were 67,158 new unemployment claims were filed across the state last week, the week of Nov. 1.

There were 53,138 new unemployment claims filed during the week of Oct. 19 in Illinois.

A total of 46,948 new unemployment claims were filed across the state, the week of Oct. 12.

Gov. Pritzker said last week that he thought a huge surge in fraudulent claims was behind the unemployment application spike here the previous couple weeks.

* IDES…

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate fell -3.6 percentage points to 6.8 percent, while nonfarm payrolls were about unchanged, down -1,100 jobs in October, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The September monthly decrease in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from -12,000 to -9,200 jobs. The September unemployment rate was revised upward from the preliminary report, from 10.2 percent to 10.4 percent.

The October payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflects activity for the week including the 12th. The BLS has published FAQs for the October payroll jobs and the unemployment rate.

The state’s unemployment rate was -0.1 percentage point lower than the national unemployment rate reported for October, which was 6.9 percent, down -1.0 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was up +3.1 percentage points from a year ago when it was 3.7 percent.

In October, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services (+13,800), Construction (+4,200) and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+2,100). The industry sectors that reported the largest payroll declines were: Government (-13,500), Educational and Health Services (-6,500) and Information (-1,500).

“While the unemployment rate has steadily declined over the last several months, the governor’s office and IDES are working tirelessly to assist claimants while confronting the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Deputy Governor Dan Hynes. “IDES is taking necessary steps to make claimants aware of the impending expiration to the federal CARES Act programs, set to end the week ending December 26. The department is working closely with the Pritzker administration to advocate for claimant stability at the federal level and will continue to do so throughout this pandemic.”

“While we continue to see positive signs that employment is picking back up, we know that there is much more work ahead as we strive for a full recovery from the impact of COVID-19 on our Illinois workers and Illinois businesses,” said Erin Guthrie, Director of the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). “Under the leadership of Governor Pritzker, Illinois has not only led with a swift and decisive public health response to the virus, but we’ve also introduced more than $1 billion in economic support programs at DCEO alone to help small businesses and communities weather the storm. Our continued vigilance on public health measures is necessary to restore our economy and bring more people back to work.”

Compared to a year ago, nonfarm payroll employment decreased by -411,800 jobs, with losses across all major industries. The industry groups with the largest jobs decreases were: Leisure and Hospitality (-129,000), Professional and Business Services (-64,800) and Educational and Health Services (-59,600). Illinois nonfarm payrolls were down -6.7 percent over-the-year as compared to the nation’s -6.1 percent over-the-year decline in October.

The number of unemployed workers declined sharply from the prior month, a -35.5 percent decrease to 425,900 but was up +80.3 percent over the same month for the prior year. The labor force was down -1.7 percent over-the-month and down -3.1 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.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 19, 20 @ 12:59 pm

Comments

I’m curious how many Capitol Fax visitors have lost their job during this pandemic. I’m lucky and thankful to have been employed all this time. Going to be hard when the eviction moratorium ends and folks owe back rent that haven’t been able to find a job.

Comment by Mike Thursday, Nov 19, 20 @ 1:13 pm
I hear IDES employees will be working on Black Friday this year.

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Nov 19, 20 @ 2:29 pm
“I hear IDES employees will be working on Black Friday this year”

Which side of the phone would rather be on? Understand why this is occurring and be thankful. No sympathy.

Comment by 1st Ward Thursday, Nov 19, 20 @ 3:31 pm
They need to work on their customer service because it is horrible. As a victim of identity theft through IDES, I have received a notice of monies due (which I reported the fraud the same day I received the letter of determination). Yesterday I was told there was no record in the file of me reporting fraud by the first person I spoke with. The second person was more personable and transferred me to another department. The woman I spoke with at that time had no desire to hear why I was calling (she told me I needed to prove my identity to have my benefits continue), she did not want to hear why I was calling, stated she did not know why I called her (I APOLOGIZED while explaining I was transferred to her department). She then said “I’m done” and hung up on me.

I understand they are overloaded and I understand that there is a huge amount of fraud to go through but there needs to be a better way to communicate the process to individuals when they call. My heart breaks for those who are ill trying to deal with that office, immigrants, those that are uneducated, seniors… The system needs an overhaul and the people that work there need to remember they are supposed to serve the public.

Comment by ktkat1 Thursday, Nov 19, 20 @ 4:19 pm