New Ill. jobless claims remain above 100K
Another 850K idled workers file for benefits nationally; Chicago area, Decatur above statewide average
The marquee remains blank at the Music Box Theater in Chicago, which is now offering streaming services in the pandemic. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
More than 850,000 newly idled workers filed for unemployment insurance last week, and for the second straight week more than 100,000 were reported in Illinois.
The U.S. Department of Labor released its weekly unemployment report Thursday, finding that in raw numbers 874,000 workers filed for benefits last week. Even seasonally adjusted that translated as 847,000 new jobless workers, down 67,000 from the previous week, which was revised up from 900,000 to 914,000. Since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the U.S. economy in mid-March, when 3.3 million jobless workers filed for unemployment, the weekly total has never reached the previous record of 695,000 new claims in a week, set during the 1982 recession. In between, a new record of 6.9 million filed the last full week of March.
For the second straight week, Illinois topped 100,000, and the week-to-week data were stunningly similar. The Labor Department reported that 109,000 Illinois workers filed for benefits last week, 14,000 more than the revised figure of 95,000 the week before, but just last week the department reported the same 109,000 new filings above 95,000 the week before, with the actual numbers only slightly different.
The state has been hit hard as part of a nationwide scourge of fraudulent claims. According to the Labor Department, Illinois registered the most new claims in the nation last week, as California, which has also been battling fraud, saw its new filings more than cut in half to 53,000 from 117,000 the week before.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security released new figures Thursday setting the state unemployment rate at 7.5 percent, after IDES initially said 7.6 percent last week. The Chicago region and Decatur were the only two of the state’s 14 metropolitan areas above the state average, at 8.7 and 8.2 percent, respectively. In Chicago, jobs were down 285,000 year to year in December, down an additional 17,000 from November, while in Decatur jobs were down 3,600 year to year and level month to month. Overall, Illinois employment was set at 5.7 million, down 419,000 from a year ago.
According to the Labor Department, Illinois claims for expanded federal benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program rose slightly to 32,000 from 29,000 the week before. Congress only just extended those benefits with its latest COVID-19 relief package before the end of the year.
“As Illinois works to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic with the ongoing vaccine rollout, IDES remains committed to supporting displaced workers and families by offering support and services to those who need it,” said Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes in a statement. “The Pritzker administration and IDES continue to work with the U.S. Department of Labor to implement the new federal unemployment program changes as seamlessly as possible to ensure claimants have access to benefits for which they are eligible to receive.”
The Labor Department reported that 18.3 million workers across the country were on some form of unemployment the week of Jan. 9, up 2.3 million from the week before. By contrast, just 2.2 million workers were on unemployment across the nation at the same point last year.