Illinois' unemployment rate jumps to 9.1%
When Joe Giovenco of Naperville lost his mold-making job in January, he didn't realize he would be part of a continuing wave of unemployed workers.
Still, it was his second round of unemployment in three years, a tough time in his industry.
"It's a dying trade," he said.
Giovenco is part of the growing population of jobless. The Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday that the unemployment rate rose in March to 9.1 percent - the highest in nearly 25 years. That's 0.5 percent higher than February and the sixth consecutive month of increases.
Manufacturing and professional business services were among the hardest hit sectors, said IDES spokesman Greg Rivara.
The state's manufacturing sector lost 14,200 jobs in March, its third largest over-the-month reduction since January 1992. In the last year, this sector has dropped by 60,800 jobs, more than 9 percent of its total work force. The professional and business services sector reported 13,200 fewer workers, the second largest decrease on record and its third decline in excess of 10,000 in the last five months, IDES data shows.
Total nonfarm payroll declined by 39,300 jobs in March 2009. In March, the number of unemployed people in Illinois increased to 596,000 (up 27,400), the highest level reported since September 1983. Nationally, unemployment grew to 13.2 million in March.
To help the jobless in Illinois, state officials have boosted services at IDES and will provide more unemployment benefits.
Gov. Pat Quinn said Thursday that unemployment insurance will be provided for an additional 13 weeks. He said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will fund the additional payments, which became effective April 12.
"The proud workers of Illinois deserve this additional help to weather the storm of this deep national recession," Quinn said in a statement. "We need to do more than just extend unemployment benefits - we need to pass legislation to put the people of Illinois back to work. Two weeks ago I signed the Jump Start Capital Plan to start projects that put people to work; now I am working with the General Assembly to pass the rest of the Illinois Jobs Now! plan which will support 340,000 jobs."
Also, IDES has increased their tele-service hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tele-service provides an automatic prompting service so the jobless can be certified for benefits by phone.
The agency also has added 200 more phone lines, for a total of about 865, and expanded their computer and software as well, Rivara said.
The office handled about 354,000 calls last week, compared to about 331,000 about a month ago, Rivara said.
In the meantime, people like Giovenco need the unemployment insurance to help support their families and pay the mortgage and everyday bills.
"We're using different funds to keep the bills paid because we have no other choice but to do that," Giovenco said. "This has been hard and very devastating, but we're trying to be positive and we need to be flexible when it comes to looking for a job."