Illinois Unemployment Tops 10%
State exceeds national figure of 9.4% unemployment
Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 | Updated 3:22 PM CDT
More and more Illinoisans do.
It's unwanted notoriety for the state as new numbers from the Illinois Department of Employment Security show the state has surpassed the national unemployment level with 10.1% of its residents out of work in May.
It's a 25-year high for the Land of Lincoln and is notably higher than the9.4% unemployment rate across the country, according to the Southtown Star.
Approximately 17,400 jobs were lost since April, the eighth straight month of job loss. The total number of unemployed hit 671,400 in the state, the highest since June 1983, according to the agency.
"This national recession has produced unemployment figures not seen in a generation," said IDES Director Maureen O'Donnell in a statement.
She expects further increases in the unemployment rate, but a slow down in job losses.
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