SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Peoria area saw another month of jobs going up, along with the number of jobless.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security, based on federal data, says the Peoria-area unemployment rate for October went up to 4.9 percent – nine-tenths of a percentage point higher than October of last year.
The total number of not-seasonally-adjusted non-farm payroll jobs, however, also went up by 1,200 in that period, to 173,200. Jobs in government, education and health services, leisure-hospitality, and retail trade were among those with increases in jobs, all but offsetting declines in Professional and Business Services, Transportation-Warehousing-Utilities, information, and financial activities.
“With consistent gains in payroll jobs, jobseekers and employers continue to find new opportunities to land their next jobs and fill open positions,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar, in a news release. “Further investments in workforce development throughout the state, coupled with the employment resources provided by IDES and its partners, continue to provide a strong foundation for the Illinois labor market.”
The state says only three metropolitan areas saw job losses, while jobs in the other eleven increased.
The City of Peoria’s unemployment rate shot up one-point-eight percentage points in the period, to 6.5 percent. More specific unemployment rate data is below.
(October 2023 number, followed by October 2022 number, then year-over-year change)
(U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics via Illinois Department of Employment Security)
