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.