Unemployment in Peoria remains above 6% for the second month in a row.
That’s according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s July 2024 report. Preliminary numbers show unemployment is at 6.1%, compared to 5.2% in July 2023.
All fourteen of Illinois metro areas saw year-on-year increases in unemployment. The largest increases were the Chicago area with a 2% increase, Danville with 1.6% and Bloomington with 1.2%.
Statewide unemployment rose from 4.7% in July 2023 to 6.2% in July 2024.
Preliminary numbers show the number of jobs in Peoria remained the same at 170,400. Peoria saw increases in government jobs and private education and healthcare jobs. But industries such as manufacturing and healthcare saw some decreases.
Peoria County has the highest unemployment rate in the Peoria area with 6.7%. The lowest is Woodford County with 5%.
The report comes a couple days after the U.S. Labor Department announced the month of March had 818,000 fewer jobs added nationwide then previously reported. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that because of the cooling job market and inflation, they will likely begin lowering interest rates next month.
