|  Dr. King was born Jan. 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Ga. The civil rights 
			leader was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. Four 
			days later, legislation was introduced in Congress to make his 
			birthday a national holiday, but was not enacted into law until 
			1983. Ten years earlier, in 1973, Illinois was among the first 
			states in the Union to honor King with a state holiday. Although IDES offices will close, services will be available at
			www.ides.illinois.gov. 
			Individuals can file for first-time unemployment benefits; certify 
			for benefits, which is necessary to receive payment; and switch that 
			method of payment to direct deposit. Because Jan. 21 is a federal 
			banking holiday, the availability of some benefit payments might be 
			delayed. The IDES does not determine federal banking holidays. 
			
			 IDES customers also can use the website to manage their benefit 
			payments. For benefit payments, the department encourages direct 
			deposit. Direct deposit is a simple, smart and secure way to receive 
			benefits. Debit cards also are available. There are no fees 
			associated with a debit card at point-of-service counters that 
			accept MasterCard, such as grocery stores, drugstores and 
			convenience stores. Cash is available after qualifying purchases. 
			Fees likely will be assessed with out-of-network ATM machines.' Illinois added 174,600 private sector jobs since January 2010, 
			when job growth returned to Illinois following nearly two years of 
			consecutive monthly losses. Leading growth sectors are professional 
			and business services, up 84,800; manufacturing, up 45,100; and 
			education and health services, up 42,000. Government has lost the 
			most jobs since January 2010, down 28,800. 
			[to top of second column] | 
 
			 Illinoisjoblink.com 
			is the revamped IDES employment website that links job-seekers with 
			ready-to-hire employers. This no-cost, online career resource allows 
			individuals to create multiple resumes that emphasize different 
			talents and allows businesses to search for specific skills. The 
			keyword-matching technology increases the likelihood of a successful 
			new hire. Illinois JobLink emphasizes Illinois jobs, scrapes other 
			commercial job boards and compares favorably with private efforts 
			that cost hundreds of dollars for a single advertisement. Business 
			leaders can access no-cost human resources recruitment services 
			provided by IDES by calling 877-342-7533.  
            [Text from 
            
			Illinois 
			Department of Employment Security 
			file received from 
			the
			
            
			Illinois Office of 
			Communication and Information] 
            
			 |