The unemployment rate for October held steady in Illinois at 5.4 percent, a little above the national average.
“There was an increase of 14,100 jobs,” says the state's labor market information director, Evelina Loescher. “There were two large industry sector increases: educational/health services and leisure/hospitality.”
The national rate is five percent.
“We are getting closer to the rate where they say it's considered the full employment rate, as measured by the Federal Reserve,” she says. “They're looking for something close to five percent nationally.”
Loescher's boss at the Illinois Department of Employment Security, director Jeff Mays, said in a statement that manufacturing job losses are still a problem and that Illinois is still not competitive with its neighboring states.
