Aug. 20--Illinois' unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent in July as the state added 1,900 non-farm jobs, but its job growth continues to lag other states.
In fact, officials estimate Illinois' recovery is nearly 2 1/2 years behind the nation's.
July's unemployment rate is an improvement from the 6.7 percent in July 2014 and from the 5.9 percent reported in June, though still above the national rate of 5.3 percent, according to monthly data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
Illinois has gained only a quarter of the job growth seen by the rest of the country since the beginning of the year, agency director Jeff Mays said, and he expects the state won't achieve prerecession job levels until September 2016.
Jim Schultz, director of the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, pointed to company closings in Illinois and said, "We cannot afford to continue down this path."
Illinois counted 373,600 people as unemployed last month, defined as being out of work and seeking employment. People who exhaust or are ineligible for benefits are still reflected in the number if they actively seek work, but those who have given up are not.
The industries posting the greatest job gains in July were government, leisure and hospitality and construction, while those with the largest declines were professional and business services, education and health services, and manufacturing.
BMO Harris Bank noted in a biannual state report released Wednesday that Illinois' labor participation rate continues to plunge and is now at a 36-year low, despite signs of stabilization in many other states. Hours worked and wage growth in Illinois are underperforming the 50-state average, which contributed to nearly 100,000 people leaving the state in 2014, pulling population growth into negative territory for the first time in 26 years, the report said.
aelejalderuiz@tribpub.com
