New federal jobs numbers shows Illinois economy falling behind neighbors in job creation

August 18, 2014

Today, complete data showing Illinois’ unemployment levels was released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The new data show the state’s economy is still struggling and failing to create jobs since the recession.

On Thursday, Aug. 14 the Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES, released preliminary, but incomplete, data on Illinois’ unemployment rate which showed the state’s jobless rate dropped to 6.8 percent. Many heralded this news as proof that Illinois’ economy is improving, but those preliminary numbers came from narrow data that did not show Illinois’ true economic outlook. Today, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, released the complete unemployment data for Illinois which reveals the state’s struggling economic health.

The nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute’s Director of Jobs and Growth, Michael Lucci, issued the following statement on today’s jobless data:

“By simply looking at the unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, people are not seeing the full picture of how Illinois’ economy is performing. The only reason the unemployment rate dropped in July is because of people dropping out of the labor force. Illinois has 170,000 fewer payroll jobs today than before the 2008 recession. While many of our neighbor states have completely recovered from the recession and continued to become stronger, Illinois continues to languish.”

“The most recent unemployment data show that 17,000 Illinoisans gave up and quit the workforce in July. In the last four months, 63,000 Illinoisans have quit looking for work.”

Below are the findings released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics today:

  • In July alone, Illinois’ workforce shrank by 17,100 people, which accounts for the entire drop in the monthly unemployment rate. When people drop out of the workforce, the state unemployment rate goes down because they are no longer counted as unemployed.
  • So many workers have left the workforce that Illinois’ labor force participation rate fell to a 35-year low in July.
  • Illinois has 170,000 fewer jobs than before the recession in 2008, the worst record in the entire U.S.
  • Illinois has lost 5,900 private-sector jobs in the first seven months of 2014, giving the state the worst 2014 jobs record in the entire U.S.