The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced Thursday that Illinois’ unemployment rate jumped 12.2 percentage points, from March to April, to 16.4 percent amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
While statewide employment data was released Thursday, metro area employment, including the Danville area, won’t be released until next week.
 
Nonfarm payrolls shed 762,200 jobs in April, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact Illinois businesses and households, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and released by IDES.
 
The monthly unemployment rate rose to a new record high since current methodologies were enacted in 1976. The monthly decline in non-farm payroll jobs also set a record.
 
The March monthly change in payrolls was revised from the preliminary report from -34,100 to -60,900 jobs. The March unemployment rate was also revised from the preliminary report, from 4.6 percent to 4.2 percent, as a result of a downward revision to the number of people in the labor force in March.
 
Click Here to read more.