Despite small rise last month, Sauk Valley’s unemployment rate still on decline

Jobless rates across the Sauk Valley rose slightly last month, but remained close to levels that were reported before area economies were halted and local businesses were shuttered because of the coronavirus, data released Wednesday by the state’s unemployment agency shows.

November’s combined unemployment rate for Carroll, Lee, Ogle and Whiteside counties was 4.86%, up 0.15 percentage points from the 4.71% combined unemployment rate recorded in October, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

In March, before the state implemented widespread limits on businesses aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, the combined unemployment rate for the four counties was 3.32%.

That combined rate skyrocketed in April to 15%, representing 73,157 workers across the Sauk Valley without employment.

Since then, more area workers have regained employment. In November, 3,652 people were without work.

The statewide unemployment rate last month decreased almost a full percentage point from 7.2% in October to 6.5% in November.

That updated rate is still 3.5 percentage points down from 10% in September. The November statewide rate is also a notable 10.3 percentage points down from 16.8% in April, when millions of Illinoisans were without work.

Despite the decrease, IDES reported this week that 145,054 workers in the state filed first-time claims for regular unemployment during the week that ended Dec. 19, a 5% increase from the week before.

The new figures are preliminary and are not seasonally adjusted.

They come after both chambers of Congress on Monday approved a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package that, among other provisions, extends unemployment benefits and provides stimulus checks to Americans within a certain income bracket.

President Donald Trump still needs to sign the bill into law.

Federal legislators passed the package days before two federal assistance programs established in the previous aid package — the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act — were set to expire Dec. 26.

The new coronavirus relief bill authorizes 11-week extensions to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program and to the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program.

The former is available for gig workers, independent contractors and other self-employed individuals who don’t normally qualify for traditional unemployment insurance, while the latter is available to individuals who have exhausted their regular jobless benefits.

Both programs will provide $300 per week in supplemental unemployment benefits to participants.

The new $900 billion aid package also will supply $600 in direct stimulus payments to individuals making $75,000 or less annually, and families making $150,000 or less.

Deputy Gov. Dan Hynes in an IDES news release Wednesday said the agency will “work as quickly as possible” to implement the new package’s extensions and distribute benefits once it is signed into law.

“The Department remains dedicated to serving claimants who desperately need the services of IDES, particularly during this difficult holiday season,” Hynes said in the release.