The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced Friday (Nov. 17) that the unemployment rate dipped by 0.1 percentage points to 4.9 percent in October and nonfarm payrolls increased by 3,400 jobs over-the-month, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

September job growth was revised up to show a smaller decline (-7,900 jobs) than initially reported (-10,800 jobs).

Unfortunately, October’s monthly payroll drop kept the year’s job growth well below the national average. The state’s unemployment rate of 4.9 percent trails the national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent.

The good news is that the Illinois unemployment rate is better than it was a year ago, when it was 5.8 percent.

Since the beginning of the year, Illinois job growth has had its ups and downs. The three-month trend shows average declines of 2,300 jobs per month from August to October, while the six-month trend shows an increase of 1,900 average monthly job gains from May to October.

“Month-to-month changes sometimes obscure important trends,” said IDES Director Jeff Mays. “Illinois’ unemployment rate remained at 5.0 percent or lower for eight months. The last time that happened was in mid-2007.”

“The department continues to see a steady flow of interest from businesses to relocate and grow in Illinois,” said Illinois Department of Commerce Director Sean McCarthy. “With our world-class assets, Illinois should be leading the pack not lagging behind the national average. We’re seeing results and winning projects, but we still have work to do.”

In October, the three industry sectors with the largest gains in employment were: Trade, Transportation, and Utilities (+2,800); Education and Health Services (+2,200); and Manufacturing (+1,600). The three industry sectors with the largest payroll declines were: Government (-1,800); Construction (-1,100) and Information (-600).

Over the-year, nonfarm payroll employment increased by +17,800 jobs with the largest gains in these industry sectors in October: Financial Activities (+14,300); Education and Health Services (+12,900); and Professional and Business Services (+5,600). The industry sectors with the largest over-the-year declines include  Government (-9,500); Construction (-3,500); and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-3,200). Illinois nonfarm payrolls were up +0.3 percent over-the-year in sharp contrast to the nation’s +1.4 percent over-the-year gain in October.

To help connect jobseekers to employers who are hiring, IDES maintains the state’s largest job search engine IllinoisJoblink.com, which recently showed 61,786 posted resumes with 173,277 jobs available.

SOURCE: Illinois Department of Employment Security news release