DeKALB: DeKalb County’s unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in May, up slightly from 5.1 percent in May 2015, according to preliminary figures released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The jobless rate in the city of DeKalb was 5.7 percent last month, up from 5.4 percent in May 2015.
The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for work. It is not tied to collecting unemployment insurance benefits. Statewide, most metro areas saw an increase in their over-the-year unemployment rate. “While some metro areas saw job growth, too many didn’t,” IDES Director Jeff Mays said in a news release. “Key structural reforms can help the state grow more jobs as we sharpen our efforts to help unemployed job-seekers get back to work.”
Illinois businesses added jobs in seven metro areas, in which the largest increases were seen in: Lake-Kenosha (+2.2 percent, +9,000), Rockford (+1.6 percent, +2,400), and Elgin (+1.2 percent, +3,000). Illinois businesses lost jobs in seven metro areas including Bloomington (-2.9 percent, -2,800), Carbondale-Marion (-1.6 percent, -900), and the Quad Cities (-1.5 percent, -2,700). The not seasonally adjusted Illinois rate was 5.6 percent in May 2016 and stood at 12.2 percent at its peak in this economic cycle in January 2010. Nationally, the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in May 2016 and 10.6 percent in January 2010 at its peak.
