Jobs in Illinois Decline in December
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in Illinois reached a 15 -year high during the final month of 2008. While the national average rose 2.2 percentage points from 6.8 percent to 7.2 percent, the state’s jobless rate went from 5.3 percent in November to 7.6 percent. This means that, due to greater competition, finding a job in Illinois will likely be more difficult for the time being. Only 8 other states and the District of Columbia had jobless rates that were significantly higher than the national average.
When compared to the rest of the country, Illinois saw the fourth largest month to month decline in employment. According to the state’s Department of Employment Security, businesses did way with approximately 36,000 jobs in Illinois. Altogether, the U.S. lost a total of 524,000 jobs in December.
The largest decline in jobs in Illinois during the month of December occurred in the construction industry. This sector saw the loss of 13,400 jobs, which goes to show that the credit problem and the housing market slump have yet to end their effect of the job market. Although this industry usually sees some decline during the holidays, the decreased demand for new building projects only served to make it much harder to find work of the sort. Illinois Department of Employment Security spokesperson Greg Rivara said that the industry has now seen four consecutive months of notable decline, which has caused a 10 percent drop in the number of jobs the sector provides.
Other areas of employment that saw a significant decline in the number of Illinois jobs they provide included trade, transport and manufacturing, according to Rivara. He says that this is a direct reflection of the nationally experience slowdown in the demand for many products. Since many people are now without work or are saving incase they are laid off, fewer people are spending money on unnecessary purchases. This in turn causes the need for workers to manufacture such goods to decline, which results in even less money being spend. It’s a vicious cycle that many experts don’t expect the country to fully recover from until sometime in 2011.
Several large companies that did away with a significant number of jobs in Illinois during December included: Home Depot Inc., General Motors Corp. and Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar cut employment at their Mossville, Illinois engine assembly plant by 800 workers near the end of 2008. A spokesperson for the company recently announced that more layoffs are on the way. These job cuts are expected to be spread out throughout the company’s global operations and will result in an overall decline in employment by around 20,000 jobs.
Currently, unemployment offices across the state are experiencing a problem with jammed phone lines. So many individuals are trying to file new claims that many are struggling to get through. As a result, the Illinois Department of Employment Security is in the process of upgrading its automated telephone system in hopes of providing better service.
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