Decatur unemployment rate decreases 33% in October to 8.2%

Data released from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) shows that the unemployment rate in Decatur decreased from a revised 12.2% in September to 8.2% in October.  The unemployment rate was 4.6% in March and increased to 17.2% at its peak in April.  The city’s October unemployment rate is 21% above the state’s unemployment rate of 6.8% and 19% above the U.S. unemployment rate of 6.9%.  The number of employed individuals in Decatur grew by 1,192 from a revised 28,093 in September to 29,285 in October.  Overall, the number of employed individuals is equivalent to its year-to-date peak of 29,318 achieved in January. 

The city continues to be experiencing among the lowest number of employed individuals in at least 45 years.  Using annual data from the IDES between 1974-2019, the number of employed individuals ranged from 40,932 in 1977 to 29,979 in 2019. 

JOB LISTINGS IN THE DECATUR AREA INCREASED 27% FROM SEPTEMBER TO OCTOBER

As a measure of job availability, the City of Decatur’s Economic and Community Development Department records the number of job listings in the Decatur area as reported by Indeed.com. The number of jobs available increased from 668 job listings in September to 849 listings in October.  There were 1,385 job listings in the February report compared to 849 listings in the October report, a decrease of 39% over an eight-month period.  With 2,621 unemployed individuals in Decatur in October (there were 1,356 in March), there are not enough jobs available for job seekers. 

PLEASE EXPRESS YOUR VIEWS.  CITIZENS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS

If you would like to discuss this or any other issue with a city council member, phone numbers and e-mail addresses for each council member can be found at the following link: https://www.decaturil.gov/mayor-and-council/council/.