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B-N Jobless Rate Shows Slowing Pandemic Recovery

Man walks past 'now hiring' sign
Nam Y. Huh
/
AP
A shopper wears a face mask and he walks past a store displaying a hiring sign in Wheeling, Ill., Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020.

Bloomington-Normal has lost more than 6,000 jobs over the last year and its unemployment rate is starting to climb again.According to data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), Bloomington-Normal's jobless rate for January was about twice what it was a year ago at 6.3%. That's still tied for lowest in the state with Champaign-Urbana.

The jobless rate for the Twin Cities had risen four consecutive months. That followed six months of declines after the economic shutdown last March. The jobless rate was more than a point lower in December (5.2%).

IDES said the Bloomington-Normal market had about 91,000 nonfarm jobs in January 2020. That number fell to 84,700 in January of this year -- the lowest job total in McLean County since last July.

The biggest job losses over the last year were in Leisure and Hospitality (-2,200), Government (-1,800) and Educational and Health Services (-900), according to IDES. The Bloomington-Normal market saw job gains in Wholesale Trade (+200) and Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities (+100) since the start of 2020. 

The unemployment rate in Livingston County rose to 6.7% in January, up from 4.2% in January 2020. The Peoria area lost close to 12,000 jobs over the last year as its unemployment rate rose from 4.7% to 8.2%.  The Peoria market lost about 5,300 jobs in leisure and hospitality.

The state unemployment rate for January was 8.5% and the national rate was 6.8%.

Unemployment
Infogram
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Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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