unemployment rate

Another jobs report, another dose of bad news for working families in Illinois, as the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics June jobs report shows that Illinois jobs in the education and health services sectors took the biggest hit.

Last week in this space, I mentioned that Illinois often finds itself at the bottom of "good lists," and at the top of the "bad lists." There aren't a whole lot of things worse than being unemployed (especially when you desperately wish to be employed), and unfortunately, Illinois holds the nation's top spot on the list of highest unemployment rates.

Despite a drop in the unemployment rate in April to 7.9 percent, Illinois remains worst in the Midwest and third-worst nationally for joblessness. That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Illinois Policy Institute took a deeper look at the numbers: Illinois’ private-sector jobs loss came against a gain of 1,000 government jobs, leaving the state with a net loss of 6,800 payroll posi