More people are being left without Illinois jobs.

During August, Illinois had an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent, up from 7.2 percent in July. This is the state’s highest unemployment rate since September 1993, when unemployment reached 7.5 percent, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The number of unemployed people in the state increased to 491,500, the fourth month in a row this number increased, and its highest since June 1992.

“In these financially difficult times, when national economic instability is hurting our Illinois workers, it is evident that Illinois needs a statewide comprehensive jobs plan,” IDES Director Maureen O’Donnell said in the press release. “The proposed jobs bill would create work for hundreds of thousands of people in Illinois, absorb the effects of job losses and positively impact our economy.”

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As of late, jobs in Illinois aren’t growing, and the state is lagging behind others in many facets.

In July 2008, Illinois had a total non-farm employment of 5,979,600, the same as last year, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce recently hired GrowthEconomics to create an Illinois Economic Competitiveness Scorecard to stack the Illinois economy amongst that of other states. The report found Illinois fell from sixth to 16th in per capita income, from 10th to 13th in gross domestic product and the state ranked 49 out of 50 for its regulatory environment.

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Although the industry is currently losing workers, IT jobs in Illinois are expected to grow through 2014.

During July 2008, Illinois‘ information industry employed a total of 115,800 workers, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, a decrease of .5 percent.

Illinois’ information technology industry is expected to grow faster than the statewide average for all industries through 2014, according to an article by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. This is mostly due to the fact that organizations will continue to integrate increasingly sophisticated technology.

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Illinois government jobs are expected to grow slowly during the near future.

In July 2008, Illinois‘ government industry employed 848,100 people, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same as last year.

Budget constraints at all federal and state levels of government are expected to cause employment in the the state’s government industry to increase at a slower rate than the average for all industries through 2014, according to an article by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

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