By Jim Anderson/Illinois Radio Network
CHICAGO – Illinois’ unemployment rate is holding steady at six percent.
The six-percent rate is a half-point above the national rate, but it’s down from 7.1 percent a year ago. It’s OK, said Evelina Loescher, labor market information director for the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
“We typically call it alright. A lot of economists in the Federal Reserve call it the rate at which wages might start accelerating, if you get much below 5.5 percent,” she said.
The state did add jobs, 9,200, up from 5,400 the previous month, but the department says the job growth – an average of 5,300 jobs per month since the recovery began – is slow, projecting it’ll take another year for employment to reach the pre-recession level.
Illinois has 5.9 million working, 392,000 unemployed.
