Illinois unemployment highest in 15 years

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois' unemployment rate has increased to its highest level since September 1993.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security says July's rate of 7.3 percent marks an increase of 1.9 percentage points since April.

Officials say 491,300 people were unemployed in Illinois, which is the highest level since June 1992. That number is up almost 122,000 since April.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he was disappointed to see that again the national economic crunch has weighed heavily on industries critical to Illinois' economy.

"Numbers out today show that Illinois lost about 10,000 construction jobs over the last year - with a capital plan we will create construction jobs, rather than leave these Illinoisans without work," said Blagojevich. "After yesterday, I am cautiously optimistic that the General Assembly is making progress on passing the Illinois Works jobs plan to bring these opportunities to Illinois. We cannot afford to wait any longer for new jobs. We need to do this now."

Employment Security Director James Sledge says the increase shows the impact national economic struggles are having on Illinois' job market.

The department says Illinois' construction industry lost more than 1,000 jobs in July and 12,000 since the start of the year to drop to its lowest level since October 1999.