Unemployment rate hits 9.5 percent in Boone, Winnebago counties

By Sean F. Driscoll

BusinessRockford.com

In terms of unemployment, Boone and Winnebago counties had their worst August in 17 years.

The area’s unemployment rate was 9.5 percent in August, the highest of any metro area in the state, according to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The Kankakee-Bradley metro area was the next highest at 9.1 percent; the Chicago metro area’s rate was 7.1 percent.

“That’s causing some upward pressure on unemployment rates,” said Tom Austin, a market labor analyst for the IDES. “As those pressures decline when more opportunities open up, then we’ll see some changes in the marketplace. In some situations, those who are laid off in one industry are going to need to be retrained to move to a growth area.”

The largest loss of jobs from August 2007 to August 2008 was in the manufacturing sector, where 1,200 positions were lost, including the loss of the third-shift workers at Chrysler’s Belvidere plant in March. Construction and mining jobs were steady, and 500 jobs were added in the education and health services fields.

In Rockford, the unemployment rate climbed to 10.9 percent, up slightly from last month but up 3.5 percentage points from this time last year. The city had 8,310 unemployed residents in August, up 545 from July.

The country’s August unemployment rate was 6.1 percent; in Illinois, it was 7.3 percent.

Reach staff writer Sean F. Driscoll at 815-987-1346 or sdriscoll@rrstar.com.