Illinois Unemployment Rate Drops for February

Print

Published on March 24 2017 3:34 pm
Last Updated on March 24 2017 3:34 pm
Written by Greg Sapp

The Illinois unemployment rate dropped for February, going down 0.3% to 5.4%. Non-farm payrolls increased by 25,600 jobs over the month.

January job growth was revised to show an increase of 8,100 jobs rather than the preliminary estimate of 1,700 jobs.

February's monthly payroll gain kept over-the-year job growth well below the national average, but Illinois now surpasses its prior peak employment reached in September 2000 by 100 jobs, even with some sectors such as manufacturing remaining almost 300,000 jobs below their prior peak.

The number of unemployed workers decreased 5.9% from the prior month to 352,400, down 12.5% from February 2016.

The state's unemployment rate is higher than the national employment rate reported for February, which decreased to 4.7%. The Illnois unemployment rate is down .7% from a year ago when it was 6.1%. At 5.4%, the Illinois jobless rate stands at its lowest level since October 2007.