Illinois e-News Release
FOR RELEASE:
March 12, 2025
CONTACT:
Rebecca Cisco | 217.524.1219
Illinois Unemployment Rate Stable, Jobs Nearly Unchanged in January
Revised December 2024 Data Revisions Show Payroll Jobs Up, Unemployment Rate Down
SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced today that nonfarm payrolls were almost unchanged, down -1,100 (0.0%), while the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent in January, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and released by IDES. The December monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report, from +8,800 to +12,200 while the revised unemployment rate was 4.9 percent, -0.3 percentage point lower than the preliminary December unemployment rate of 5.2 percent. The January payroll jobs estimate and unemployment rate reflect activity for the week including the 12th.
Compared to a year ago, total nonfarm payroll jobs increased by +36,000 jobs. The industry groups with the largest jobs increases included: Private Education and Health Services (+27,500), Government (+25,300), and Leisure and Hospitality (+5,800). The industry groups with the largest jobs decreases included: Professional and Business Services (-17,800), Manufacturing (-5,900), and Construction (-3,400). In January, total nonfarm payrolls were up +0.6 percent over-the-year in Illinois and up +1.3 percent in the nation.
In January, the industry sectors with the largest over-the-month job increases included: Government (+7,900), Financial Activities (+1,800), and Private Education and Health Services (+1,600). The industry sectors with the largest monthly payroll job decreases included: Leisure and Hospitality (-8,700), Trade, Transportation and Utilities (-2,400) and Manufacturing (-1,800).
“Despite significant uncertainty and disruption at the federal level, Illinois’ labor market and unemployment remained steady in January, and we’re encouraged to see 36,000 jobs created in Illinois compared to one year ago,” said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. “Looking ahead, IDES and its state and local workforce partners continue to serve jobseekers and provide resources to bolster Illinois’ unmatched workforce.”
"Continued stability in our state's workforce is a testament to DCEO's commitment to ensuring Illinoisans have the resources and tools they need to obtain employment," said DCEO Director Kristin Richards. "We are dedicated to building upon this momentum to bolster the state's economy."
The state’s unemployment rate was +0.9 percentage point higher than the national unemployment rate reported for January. The national unemployment rate was 4.0 percent in January, down -0.1 percentage point from the previous month. The Illinois unemployment rate was unchanged from a year ago when it was 4.9 percent.
The number of unemployed workers was 324,100, down -1.3% from the prior month, and up +1.2 percent over the same month one year ago. The labor force was almost unchanged (0.0%) over-the-month and up +1.2 percent over-the-year. The unemployment rate identifies those individuals who are out of work and seeking employment. An individual who exhausts or is ineligible for benefits is still reflected in the unemployment rate if they actively seek work.
IDES helps connect jobseekers to employers who are hiring in a number of ways, including hosting and co-hosting job fairs and hiring events with statewide workforce partners, and through maintaining
Illinois JobLink (IJL), the state’s largest job search engine. IJL is a tool used by jobseekers to look for work, and by employers who can post open and available positions for hire and browse resumes. Recently, IJL showed 63,922 posted resumes with 76,836 jobs available.
Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates
Illinois Seasonally Adjusted Nonfarm Jobs – by Major Industry
- Monthly 1976-2024 seasonally adjusted labor force data for Illinois, and all other states, have been revised as required by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The monthly historical revisions to state labor force estimates reflect new national benchmark controls, state working-age population controls, outlier specifications, seasonal factors, as well as updated total nonfarm jobs and unemployment benefits claims inputs. Illinois labor force data were also smoothed to eliminate large monthly changes as a result of volatility in the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) and national benchmarking. For these reasons, the comments and tables citing unemployment rates in previous news releases/materials may no longer be valid.
- Monthly seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for Illinois and the Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg Metropolitan Division are available here.
- Monthly 2020-2024 seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment data for Illinois have been revised. To control for potential survey error, the estimates are benchmarked annually to universal counts derived primarily from unemployment insurance tax reports.
- Not seasonally adjusted jobs data with industry detail are available here. “Other Services” include activities in three broad categories: personal and laundry; repair and maintenance; and religious, grant making, civic and professional organizations. Seasonally adjusted data for subsectors within industries are not available.
About the Department of Employment Security
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Disclaimer on statewide data: The data contained in the statewide press releases are seasonally adjusted, which eliminates seasonal fluctuations in monthly employment data. Many economic data series have seasonal patterns, which means they tend to occur at the same time each year. For example, construction employment declines in winter, tourism employment rises in summer, and retail employment peaks in January. Seasonal adjustment helps to describe the underlying economic trends in the monthly data. When data are seasonally adjusted, as are the data in this release, the seasonal adjustment permits comparisons of data from one month to the next (January 2025 data compared to December 2024 data).
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