During the month of December, unemployment in Illinois rose from 6.9 percent to 7.8 percent, according to the State Department of Employment Security. This is the highest joblessness has been in the state since 1993 when more than 8 percent of residents were without work.
When compared to the previous year this increase shows just how badly the recession is beginning to affect those without work’s ability to find jobs in Illinois. At the end of 2007, joblessness was only 5.3 percent. The part of the state where the unemployment was the highest was the Rockford area, where 12.5 percent of people couldn’t find a job.
Altogether 30,000 Illinois jobs were cut in December as employers did way they could to meet the challenges of smaller budgets. So far, signs are already pointing to the fact that early 2009 will be no different from the end of last year.
One Illinois employer, Caterpillar Inc., recently announced that it will be taking further measures to reduce the size of its workforce. The company, which is based out of Peoria, is planning on offering voluntary early retirement packages to around 2,000 workers throughout its U.S operations. The employees affected will mainly be production workers.
These jobs cuts in Illinois and elsewhere are in addition to others already planned. Currently 22,000 positions are expected to be removed from the company’s payroll. The exact number of jobs that will receive the ax in the area isn’t know.
“We recognize these are extremely difficult and uncertain times for our employees,” said a company spokesperson in a recent statement, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The statement went on to say that the packages being offered are set to give those employees that are eligible the ability to retire early. Those in charge of the company feel that this is the best move considering the fact that the struggling economy has caused the number of orders received have drastically decreased. If things continue to go this way move voluntary retirements and workforce reductions may be needed.
Some of the employees will be offered the ability to get “voluntary separation work” at other facilities. Some of these include the Caterpillar operations in Aurora, Decatur, Joliet, Pontiac, Denver, Memphis and York, Pennsylvania.
President Obama has recently used the occurrences happening at Caterpillar as an example of what is happening with the economy throughout the country.
Tags: Jobs in Illinois
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