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Unemployment rose in nearly all of the 372 largest U.S. cities in January compared to the previous month, mostly because of seasonal changes such as the layoff of temporary retail employees hired for the holidays.
In the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, the unemployment rate of 9.7 percent in January represented a 0.8 percentage point increase from the month before. Unemployment was down 2.2 percentage points from a year ago. Get the full story »
Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week, the second drop in a row and a hopeful sign the job market could be improving.
The Labor Department said Thursday that initial claims for jobless benefits dropped by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 434,000 in the week that ended Oct. 23.
Battered by the downturn, suburbs around Chicago and other cities are bearing the brunt of poverty that has climbed to its highest level in almost a half century.
Chicago’s jobless rate in August fell to 9.7 percent, down from 10.1 percent a year ago. The unemployment figure for the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville area was reported Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Get the full story »
More than half of U.S. states saw their unemployment rates rise in August, the largest number in six months, as hiring weakened across the country. The jobless rate in Illinois, however, fell 0.2 percentage points to 10.1 percent last month.
Job seekers outside the Wit hotel in Chicago on April 12, 2010. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)
By Sandra M. Jones
| The unemployment rate rose in the Chicago area in April, but at a slower
pace, providing a glimmer of hope that the job market is improving.
The jobless rate in metropolitan Chicago rose to 10.7 percent in April,
compared to 9.8 percent in April 2009, according to a report released
Thursday from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The
figures are not seasonally adjusted.
