The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced on Friday the unemployment remained stagnant in September despite an increase in non-farm payroll jobs. The unemployment rate remains at 5.3 percent, but an estimated 7,100 non-farm payroll jobs were added. In addition, August payroll job numbers were updated from an increase of 800 to an increase of 6.700.
Industry sectors with the largest growth last month were private education/health services, leisure/hospitality and government. Sectors with the largest declines were financial activities, professional/business services and construction. Over the last year, non-farm payroll jobs are still up by approximately 35,400.
The state unemployment rate is up by 0.6 percent in the last 12 months and is 1.2 percent higher than the national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. The national rate saw a decrease by 0.1 percent in September, its second straight decrease. September numbers are preliminary and may be updated at a later date by the IDES.