The unemployment rate is up and jobs are down in all 14 of Illinois’ metro areas.
State Department of Employment Security spokesperson Sam Salustro says there's been drastic changes in the over-the-year numbers for July, but not unexpected given the pandemic. He notes that things are improving.
"We are re-opening our economy safely and carefully. As we are seeing businesses re-open, the unemployment rate in Illinois has been dropping significantly and we are growing a lot of jobs at the same time."
Areas with the highest unemployment rates for July include Rockford at 13.8 percent, Chicago and the suburbs at 12.6 percent and Decatur at 12 percent.
The unemployment rate for the Carbondale-Marion metro area came in at 9.2 percent. That’s compared to 4.3 percent in July of last year. The Carbondale-Marion area had three thousand fewer jobs in July of this year compared to July 2019.
