SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced Friday that the state’s unemployment rate fell one-tenth of a percentage point — to 5.2% — in December.
The state’s unemployment rate was 1.1% higher than the national unemployment rate for December of 4.1%, which was down one-tenth of a percent from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was up five-tenths of a percent from a year earlier, when it was 4.7%.
The number of unemployed workers was 340,400, down 1.7% from the prior month and up 11.8% from the same month a year earlier.
The labor force was up one-tenth of a percent from the month prior and up 1.2% from the year prior.
Nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 8,800 from November to December. Industry sectors with the largest increases included financial activities (+2,900), private education and health services (+2,600) and government (+2,000). Industry sectors with monthly payroll job decreases included professional and business services (-2,100) and other services (-1,000).
Compared with a year earlier, nonfarm payroll jobs increased by 56,000. Industry sectors with the largest increases included government (+32,100), private education and health services (+26,600) and other services (+9,900). Industry groups with the largest decreases included professional and business services (-16,200), manufacturing (-6,900) and financial activities (-4,100).
Nonfarm payrolls were up by nine-tenths of a percent from year-ago numbers in Illinois and up by 1.4% from a year earlier nationally.