State Jobless Rate Unchanged in November

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that the unemployment rate remained at 4.2 percent in November and nonfarm payrolls increased by +5,900 jobs over-the-month, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES. The October jobs gain was revised downward from the preliminary report (from +10,300 jobs to +6,800 jobs).

Job growth was moderate during the September to November period posting an average monthly change of +4,800 jobs, an improvement over the prior month when the three-month average change was +1,800 jobs.

“Nonfarm payrolls were up over-the-month led by gains in professional and business services and educational and health services jobs “said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “The unemployment rate was unchanged in November, but lower than it was a year ago.”

“We are continuing to see the positive impact of the effort to grow jobs in Illinois,” said Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Acting Director Leslie Munger. “Pro-growth initiatives and more effective marketing of Illinois' assets are resulting in a lower unemployment rate and a growing Manufacturing base.”

In November, the three industry sectors with the largest over-the-month gains in employment were: Professional and Business Services (+4,100), Educational and Health Services (+2,700) and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (+1,000). The industry sectors with payroll declines were: Information (-1,600), Construction (-800) and Manufacturing (-800).

Over-the-year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +54,600 jobs with the largest gains in these industry sectors in November: Government (+14,800); Manufacturing (+10,300); and Education and Health Services (+8,300). The industry sectors with over-the-year declines were: Information (-3,300) and Other Services (-600). Illinois nonfarm payrolls were up +0.9 percent over-the-year in sharp contrast to the nation’s +1.7 percent over-the-year gain in November.

The state’s unemployment rate is +0.5 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate reported for November 2018, which held at 3.7 percent. The Illinois unemployment rate is down -0.7 percentage points from a year ago when it was 4.9 percent.