Bloomington-Normal's unemployment rate rose over the last year, but still remains the lowest of any metro area in Illinois.
The jobless rose above from 4% to 4.3% from February 2023 to last month as more people entered the workforce.
According to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security [IDES], the Bloomington-Normal labor market added 1,400 jobs since last February. Most of the jobs[(1,200] were in manufacturing. The other sectors that saw job gains were in Government [+800]), Educational-Health Services [+200], Mining-Construction [+200] and Wholesale Trade [+100].
The labor market, which includes all of McLean and DeWitt counties, lost jobs in Professional-Business Services, Financial Activities [-300], Retail Trade [-200] and Leisure-Hospitality [-200].
Total nonfarm jobs increased in 11 of Illinois’ 14 metro areas over the last year.
The statewide unemployment rate is 5.3%, up from 4.7% last February.
Kankakee and Rockford have the highest unemployment rates in Illinois.
