Illinois jobless down for first time in months

The Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Illinois' jobless rate fell slightly in January for the first time since April, state officials said Wednesday.

The January rate was 5.9 percent, just below the revised figure of 6 percent for December, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The number of unemployed people in the state declined by 3,100 to 373,300.

Department Director Gertrude Jordan said, "Employer payrolls, however, continued to lag behind a year ago. We will have to watch the performance of the economy during the next few months to determine if it is starting to rebound."

Illinois' unemployment rate remains higher than the national rate of 5.6 percent for January.

Payroll jobs declined 1 percent -- 60,600 -- from January 2001 to last month. Manufacturing lost 39,000 jobs, or 4.2 percent, during the year; the construction industry gained 3,300 jobs and finance, insurance and real estate gained 2,100. The service sector, largest in the state's economy, lost 12,200 jobs. Air transportation also was among the year's losers, dropping 7,200 jobs.