Prairie State Wire

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) has reported a slight increase in the state's unemployment rate for May, which rose by 0.1 percentage point to 4.9 percent. This change comes alongside an increase of 12,700 nonfarm payroll jobs during the same period, based on preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In April, the unemployment rate was revised to remain at 4.8 percent, and the monthly change in payrolls was adjusted from an initial report of 7,300 to just 1,900 jobs. The latest figures reflect economic activity for the week including May 12th.

Professional and Business Services saw the largest job gains with an increase of 7,100 positions in May. Other sectors experiencing growth included Government with a rise of 3,300 jobs and Financial Activities adding 2,400 positions. Conversely, Manufacturing experienced a decline of 2,300 jobs; Leisure and Hospitality lost 1,200 jobs; Construction decreased by 100; and Mining also saw a reduction of 100 positions.

Deputy Governor Andy Manar commented on these developments: “Steady, consistent job growth continues to benefit the Illinois labor market, further evidenced by individuals who are entering the job market and capitalizing on these new and expanded career opportunities.” DCEO Director Kristin Richards added that “Illinois continues to make positive strides with steady job growth across multiple key industry sectors.”

Despite these gains within certain industries, Illinois' unemployment rate remains higher than the national average by +0.9 percentage points. Nationally, unemployment was recorded at 4.0 percent in May after a similar increase of +0.1 percentage point from April.

Year-over-year comparisons show total nonfarm payroll jobs have increased by +43,900 in Illinois since last year. Notable increases were seen in Private Education and Health Services (+29,200), Government (+28,600), and Leisure and Hospitality (+13,900). However, Professional and Business Services faced significant declines (-24,800), as did Trade Transportation Utilities (-6,600) and Financial Activities (-4,500).

The number of unemployed workers rose to approximately 317,400—an increase both month-over-month (+1.3 percent) and year-over-year (+17.8 percent). The overall labor force grew slightly over both timeframes as well.

IDES remains committed to supporting jobseekers through various initiatives such as hosting job fairs with workforce partners across Illinois or utilizing their platform Illinois JobLink (IJL), which currently lists over 87 thousand available positions alongside nearly fifty-eight thousand resumes posted by job seekers.