Unemployment and Hourly Wages in Illinois

Read this interesting article posted in BND.com's website on 5/5/13:

"Illinois' unemployment rate is almost 2 percentage points higher than the national average, but that isn't going to stop another effort by Democrats in Springfield to raise the minimum wage.

Illinois' current wage of $8.25 an hour is already the fourth highest in the nation, higher than in any of the bordering states. Yet sponsors of SENATE BILL 68 would take the rate to $10 an hour over four years.

This bill should be a nonstarter. Illinois had a 9.5 percent unemployment rate in March. The national average was 7.6 percent.

Raising the minimum wage in this economy would result in even more unemployment and could push the state back into a recession. If businesses have to pay a higher wage, they would either cut back on employees or the number of hours people work.

Illinois needs more jobs, not a wage hike that would hamper economic growth. Kill this bill."



Also Read:
[1] Unemployment in Joliet Illinois still way too high!

here: http://www.bnd.com/2013/05
[1]/05/2605564/keep-illinois-minimum-wage-as.html#storylink=cpy"

Report - 3 Cities Where Unemployment is Rising - Joliet Will County Illinois

3 Cities Where Unemployment is Rising

As reported by The Motley Fool on 5/5/13:

"The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published unemployment data for March, indicating that most of the country is continuing to dig out from the Great Recession. Of the 49 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. (those with at least 1 million residents in 2000), the unemployment rate dropped in 45, held steady in one, and rose in just three.

Chicago, Memphis, and Indianapolis were the three cities to experience rising unemployment in their metropolitan areas. By contrast, the unemployment rate declined by 2% or more in three metro areas, all of which are in Florida: Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville.

The biggest losers
In March, the biggest year-over-year jump in unemployment occurred in the Chicago metropolitan area, where the unemployment rate rose from 9% to 9.5%. This uptick parallels the worsening employment situation in Illinois more generally, as I discussed last month. In some parts of the U.S., the unemployment rate is rising because -- counterintuitively -- people are feeling better about their job prospects and thus returning to the labor force.

However, this is not quite true for the Chicago metro area.  While the Chicago area's labor force did grow from 4.87 million last March to 4.9 million this year, the region also lost more than 12,000 jobs in that time span, leading to this year's higher unemployment rate."

See Also:
[1] Unemployment is still way too high for Joliet!
[2] Unemployment in District 86!
[3] Learn even more through the "Alm for Freedom" Network!

Unemployment Still Way Too High For Joliet Will County Illinois

UNEMPLOYMENT IS STILL WAY TOO HIGH FOR JOLIET  / WILL COUNTY ILLINOIS!

As you can see from U.S. Department of Labor Statistics (last updated 12/22/12), Joliet and Illinois is still experiencing record high unemployment.  The unemployment rate in November 2012 was 8.7% for Illinois and 10.1% for Joliet.  These numbers are still historically high - higher than over the past decade.

The Joliet Patch Newsite Reported in November 2012: "In Joliet, unemployment was logged at 9.5 percent in September and 9.9 percent in October, an increase of .4 percent."  So unemployment continued to grow through November 2012  and remained high through December 2012 (as seen above and below)!

CHICAGO NBC (WREX) 1/17/13 - The unemployment rate for Illinois remained unchanged in December, at 8.7 percent, according to seasonally adjusted data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• As reported on January 3, 2013: Illinois Department of Employment Security spokesman Greg Rivara states that federal extension of unemployment benefits have been approved but "the number of [unemployment] claims is still 38 percent higher than 2008 levels," Rivara said.

• As reported on March 28, 2013: The Department of Employment Security said that February statewide unemployment rose to 9.5 percent, and that, unemployment increased in 10 of the state's 12 metro areas. The Chicago-Joliet-Naperville unemployment rate rose from 8.6 to 9.3 percent.

We must have city and township government listen to the needs of businesses and grant incentives for aspiring entrepreneurs and small-to-large sized companies, to bolster our local economy and create JOBS.  We must ensure that we create reasonable business taxes, to attract businesses - not scare them away (also see related).  And lastly, we must host more business expos and job fairs to "connect" the community with businesses and job creators.