September 17, 2020 – The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced today that the unemployment rate in Illinois fell .5 percentage points to 11%. Nonfarm payrolls added 66,000 jobs in the month of August according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and released by IDES. Illinois’ unemployment rate was 2.6 percentage points higher than the national unemployment rate for the month of August, which was 8.4%, down 1.8 percentage points from July. The Illinois unemployment rate has increased by 7.2 percentage points from one year ago when it was 3.8%.
In August, the industry sectors with the most over-the-month gains were: Leisure and Hospitality – which added 16,400 jobs. Government – which added 15,900 jobs and Professional and Business Services – which added 9,900 jobs. Information was the only industry sector to record a decline – which was -1,400 jobs.
