Chicago-Area Unemployment Continues to Climb

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Mar 31, 2009 9:00PM

Unemployment took another big jump locally in February. The unemployment rate for the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area stood at 8.1 percent in January but hit 9 percent in February, the highest monthly rate since June 1992. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, 126,400 jobs have been lost in the area since February 2008. The area is also one of eight metro areas around the state who have higher jobless rates than the Midwest regional average of 8.6 percent, which itself is second in the nation. [Crain's]