Illinois continues to maintain a sluggish job market and high unemployment. The December unemployment rate was third highest in the nation, where it has remained for months.
Nearly 9 in 10 of the Illinois job losses announced in November resulted from businesses closing. Chicago led the state for layoffs, followed by Rockford.
New data shows only six of 15 Illinois metropolitan areas added jobs in October as the state shed 2,400 jobs. Twelve metro areas reported higher unemployment than the national average.
The Quad Cities will experience a combined 319 job cuts after John Deere announced layoffs at both its World Headquarters in Moline and Harvester Works factory in East Moline. Romeoville saw more than 1-in-4 of the mass layoffs statewide.
Illinoisans faced 1,026 mass layoffs in June 2024, with manufacturing and transportation sectors hit hardest. John Deere in East Moline accounted for about 1-in-4 of the layoffs announced statewide.
Despite some growth, high unemployment remains a persistent issue in Illinois with 13 of 15 metropolitan areas showing higher rates of unemployment than the national average.
Declining demand has John Deere planning 600 layoffs, including 280 in Illinois, by the end of August. Illinois already had companies planning to cut 1,124 jobs in May, hitting janitorial services providers, collection agencies and packaging industries.
Illinois students could soon benefit from scholarship money to help them find a tutor, attend ACT or SAT prep sessions, pay tuition, get special education services or assist with other academic needs. That will happen in Illinois only if Gov. J.B. Pritzker lets the state’s schoolchildren benefit from the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit program, established...