The unemployment rate rose by half a point in Bloomington-Normal in January compared to a year ago.
The jobless rate in the Bloomington-Normal area ticked up to 4.4% in January, up from 3.9% a year ago, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Wednesday. That increase comes despite the Twin City economy has 3,600 more jobs in January than it had a year ago, according to state data.
“As payrolls continue to grow across industries throughout the state, jobseekers are encouraged to take advantage of new and expanded employment opportunities,” said Deputy Gov. Andy Manar.
In the Bloomington-Normal area, the biggest gains were in the sectors of Government (+2,500 jobs), Manufacturing (+1,500), Educational-Health Services (+400) and Wholesale Trade (+100). There were declines in Professional Business Services (-500), Financial Activities (-200), Retail Trade (-100) and Leisure-Hospitality (-100).
The Twin City labor market increase topped all major metro areas in the state. Springfield, the Quad Cities, Decatur, and Chicago had drops in the number of people working. Eight out of 13 metro areas saw labor force increases.
Industries that saw job growth in a majority of metro areas included: Education, and Health Services, and Government, said IDES.
The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate increases were: Decatur (+1.1 points to 6.8%), Kankakee (+1.1 points to 7.5%), and Rockford (+1.1 points to 7.3%). The Chicago Metro Division unemployment rate increased +0.1 point to 4.5%.
