Illinois Department of Employment Security has released new unemployment figures for March, revealing a varied jobs picture across Southern Illinois.
Wayne County saw a slight uptick in unemployment, rising to 6.5 percent in March from 6.2 percent in February.
Edwards County posted the highest unemployment rate in Southern Illinois, surging to 14.9 percent in March. That’s a dramatic increase of 10.7 percentage points from 4.2 percent a year ago. The spike follows the recent shutdown of Champion Labs, which led to major job losses in manufacturing.
Clay County, on the other hand, showed improvement. The unemployment rate fell to 5.2 percent, down from 5.8 percent the previous month. Labor force data showed 5,896 people actively working or seeking work in March, an increase of 47 over February. The number of unemployed residents dropped by 33 to a total of 309.
OTHER AREA COUNTIES:
Effingham County: 4.5 percent (down from 4.9 percent)
Fayette County: 6.1 percent (down from 6.6 percent)
Marion County: 5.4 percent (down from 5.5 percent)
Richland County: 4.8 percent (up from 4.7 percent in February)
Wabash County: 5.7 percent (up from 3.5 percent a year ago)
Lawrence County: 5.3 percent
Richland County: 4.8 percent
All of these counties showed modest increases compared to last year.
Statewide, Illinois’ unemployment rate for March was 5.2 percent, down slightly from February but still 0.9 percentage points above the national average. Monroe County reported the state’s lowest jobless rate at 3.2 percent.
State officials note that the loss of 675 manufacturing jobs across the region contributed to the higher unemployment numbers, particularly in Edwards County.