Illinois adds 12,400 jobs in February

Job growth encourages more people to look for work

[March 27, 2013]  CHICAGO -- Illinois added 12,400 jobs in February, continuing a three-year pattern of job growth that has intensified in the past seven months. Job growth has encouraged more people to look for work, especially those who gave up during the recession. Their re-entry into the labor force pushed the February unemployment rate to 9.5 percent, according to preliminary data released March 21 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Data is seasonally adjusted.

"This is the counterintuitive part of an economic recovery. If job creation is picking up, how can unemployment be picking up as well?" said IDES Director Jay Rowell. "Job growth gives workers who previously gave up their job search hope that they, too, will be hired. As such, they re-energize their work search, jump back into the labor force and push up the unemployment rate."

Over the year, from February 2012 to February 2013, Illinois added 64,600 new private sector jobs. Illinois has added 231,200 private sector jobs since January 2010, when job growth returned following nearly two years of consecutive monthly declines. Illinois has recorded job growth in 28 of the past 38 months. Leading growth sectors are professional and business services, up 94,700; education and health services, up 53,700; and trade, transportation and utilities, up 45,500. Government has lost the most jobs since January 2010, down 25,500.

In February 2013, the number of unemployed individuals increased 34,900, or 5.9 percent, to 629,400. Total unemployed has fallen 122,800, or 16.3 percent, since early 2010, when the state unemployment rate peaked at 11.3 percent for the months of January and February.

Illinois businesses are hiring. More than 100,000 help-wanted ads are on IllinoisJobLink.com, the IDES employment website that links job seekers with employers. Keyword-matching technology increases the likelihood of a successful new hire and compares favorably with private efforts that cost hundreds of dollars. No-cost human resources recruitment services are available at the website and by calling 877-342-7533.

The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and seeking employment. Individuals who exhaust their benefits, or are ineligible, still will be reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work. Historically, the national unemployment rate is lower than the state rate. The state rate has been lower than the national rate only six times since January 2000.

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Click here for tables of statistics:

• Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

• Illinois Seasonally Adjusted Non-farm Jobs – by Major Industry

[Text from Illinois Department of Employment Security file received from the Illinois Office of Communication and Information]