Unemployment Level in Chicago and Illinois Drop

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Jan 29, 2011 5:00PM

Although the economy is still much in its recovery phase, the unemployment level in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area dropped to 8.6 percent in December. While Chicago Business reports that overall unemployment declined to 8.8 percent in Illinois, the official report from the Illinois Department of Economic Security indicates that the level of unemployment is currently at 9.3 percent. Whatever the state-wide unemployment level is, the unemployment rate is on a declining trend.

The good news doesn't stop there - apparently, unemployment rates dropped in every county in Illinois last month, which has never happened since the Illinois Department of Employment Security began to collect data on unemployment levels around the state in 1974. Additionally, the number of jobs in Illinois has been going up steadily:

The department reported Thursday there were 46,300 more jobs in Illinois last month than there were in December 2009. It was the fourth consecutive monthly year-over-year increase.

And it seems that this all indicates that Illinois is bouncing back pretty nicely from the recession that hit a few years ago:

"It is encouraging that for nine consecutive months our state has recorded a drop in the unemployment rate even as more people have entered the job market,” IDES Director Maureen O’Donnell said in a statement. “Preliminary data shows Illinois will close 2010 with a growing economy, which has not occurred since 2007.”

Let's hope the unemployment numbers keep dropping and that more jobs are added to the workforce this upcoming year.