Chicago region has major stake in auto bailout

Despite the general downward trend in employment, a few industries are still hiring in the Chicago area despite the recession and record job layoffs, said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a Chicago-based outplacement firm.

Health care and education are the strongest, but energy - including alternative energy as well as the traditional utilities - and food and agriculture are still doing well, he said.

However, the region stands to be affected significantly by what happens to the automobile industry, because many companies here supply it, said Challenger.

"That's the most vulnerable spot here," he said.

While he does not see a huge danger of jobs moving to another region of the country as they did during the early 1980s, the southward movement of the automobile industry does affect us.

Finding a new job in Chicago would definitely be easier than in New York following the downturn of the financial industry, he said. Among other major cities, Challenger does not see sunnier news from Los Angeles, which has been deeply affected by the housing crisis.

Illinois unemployment has been running higher than the national average, registering 7.3 percent in October compared with the national average of 6.5 percent then, and that trend will undoubtedly continue when the state and Chicago metropolitan figures are reported on Dec. 18 and 19. The national rate has reached 6.7 percent, he noted.

He predicts things will get better when the credit and banking systems are repaired and when people start buying homes again.

"Every recession comes to an end," said Challenger. "Prices come down. Businesses that are no longer viable disappear. It's painful, but there will be new growth. It's cyclical, and things do start to turn around."

According to Challenger's figures, which involve announced layoffs based on the company's home location, Illinois has lost 44,293 jobs this year, which puts it seventh on the list of states. New York leads in the dubious category, having lost 202,368 jobs. California is second with 153,681 layoffs.