McHenry County Unemployment Falls To 8 Percent In May

McHenry County's unemployment rate plummeted .6 percent in May to an even 8.0 percent according to Thursday's report from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).  However, more of the improvement came from a drop in people looking for work than from those who found it.  McHenry County employment rose by 783 jobs in May but 1,104 fewer residents reported they were looking for work.

The May unemployment rate in Illinois, unadjusted for seasonal fluctuation, fell .2 percent to 8.4 percent in May while the U.S. unadjusted unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent.   Illinois non-farm payroll employment edged lower by 1,800 jobs in May.  Statewide, the economy's only added 28,700 non-farm jobs in the past 12 months through May, according to IDES.

"Job gains early in the year followed by a temporary soft-patch in hiring in the Spring and Summer is to be expected given emerging trends in the national and state economy." IDES Director Jay Rowell said of the State report.

Locally, Algonquin showed an astonishing 1.1 percent unemployment rate improvement to 8.3 percent.  That was from a radically revised 9.4 percent rate in April, however, originally reported as 8.0 percent. IDES reported a similar whopping .9 percent drop in McHenry's unemployment rate to 8.4 percent.    Lake in the Hills' unemployment rate fell .3 percent to 8.2 percent while Crystal Lake's rate rose slightly in April to 8.3 percent.

                          UNEMPLOYMENT (unadjusted)             
               REVISED    Apr 2012          PRELIMINARY May 2012               
               LABOR    UNEMPLOYED      LABOR   UNEMPLOYED      May 
               FORCE    NUMBER  RATE    FORCE   NUMBER    RATE  2011   
U.S. (X1000)   153,905  11,910   7.7    154,998   12,271   7.9   8.7     
ILLINOIS     6,552,411 565,966   8.6  6,559,776  549,041   8.4   9.4   
MCHENRY COUNTY 176,107  15,160   8.6    175,876   14,146   8.0   9.5    
KANE COUNTY    275,387  24,689   9.0    275,068   23,150   8.4   9.8    
LAKE COUNTY    350,599  28,298   8.1    351,468   27,578   7.8   8.3
DUPAGE COUNTY  522,483  38,517   7.4    523,517   37,197   7.1   8.2

ALGONQUIN       19,969   1,870   9.4     19,837    1,650   8.3  10.3   
LITH            16,904   1,430   8.5     16,937    1,388   8.2   8.7    
CRYSTAL LAKE    21,935   1,795   8.2     22,062    1,824   8.3   9.5    
MCHENRY         15,428   1,429   9.3     15,363    1,296   8.4  10.8