State's unemployment rate soars; Lake Co. tops in suburbs

Illinois' unemployment rate jumped to 8.6 percent last month -- above the national average and partially fueled by suburban job losses.

The February data released Tuesday on job losses across the state reflects what many in the suburbs have been seeing.

"I haven't felt anything that felt good lately," said B. Dwight Houchins, president of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce, about the region's business environment.

In a county-by-county look from January, the latest localized data available, Lake County had the highest unemployment rate in the Chicago area at 9 percent. Kane County followed with 8.8 percent, Will County with 8.7 percent, McHenry with 8.2 percent and Cook County with 8.3 percent. DuPage County posted a 6.5 percent unemployment rate for the month of January.

The latest county unemployment figures for February will be available March 31.

The statewide, seasonally adjusted 8.6 percent rate, up from 7.8 percent in January, comes with a total decrease of 37,200 jobs statewide - the largest single-month drop since 1990.

Such a steep increase in unemployment rates over two months hasn't been seen since 1976, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The department estimates more than 570,000 Illinois residents are now without work, the most since 1983.

Most sectors of the work force have been hit, with manufacturing and white-collar workers seeing the most pink slips, losing 16,400 and 12,300 jobs respectively.

Nationally, the unemployment rate sat at 8.1 percent last month.

Greg Rivara, spokesman for the state's employment department, said Illinois is likely seeing an unemployment rate higher than the nation's because of its concentration of businesses and people.

"It stands to reason given that Illinois is the fifth-largest economy in the nation," Rivara said.

Chicago-area jobless rates County 2009 2008 Cook 8.3 6.0 DuPage 6.5 4.5 Kane 8.8 6.5 Kendall 8.6 5.7 Lake 9.0 6.9 McHenry 8.2 5.8 Will 8.7 6.1