St. Charles Jobless Rate Drops in September

Illinois' unemployment rate remains above 8 percent, but most communities saw a decrease in jobless residents in September 2012, according to new figures released last week.

September local unemployment rates fell in every metro area compared to last year, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

"This month's report highlights that we have made steady progress in lowering the unemployment rate, but more needs to be done," IDES Director Jay Rowell said in a news release. "Hiring managers need to see consistent, long-term tax policy and spending priorities by the federal government before we will see stronger hiring increases."

IDES generally reports unemployment figures for municipalities with populations of 25,000 or more people. The numbers measure unemployment for residents who live in a certain town, not those who work in the town.

In the Kane County portion of St. Charles, September’s unemployment rate was a flat 6 percent, down from 6.9 percent in in August and 8.1 percent a year ago. St. Charles’ improvement was slightly ahead of the changes in Kane County’s rate.

September’s jobless rate in the DuPage County portion of St. Charles was 2.4 percent, down from 8.5 percent a year earlier and significantly lower than the county’s 6.5 percent. St. Charles posted significantly higher improvements than DuPage County did, both from a month ago and from a year ago.

Statewide, the unemployment rate dropped from 8.9 percent in August 2012 to 8.1 percent in September. Compared to September 2011, unemployment in Illinois has dropped 1.7 percent. 

Although fewer people are out of work in Illinois as of late, the rate still lags behind the national average of 7.6 percent unemployment. Illinois saw slightly larger gains in the last month, though, with a .9 percent drop compared to .6 percent nationally.

JOBLESS RATE

SEPT. 2012

AUG. 2012

SEPT. 2011

PERCENT CHANGE
/ MONTH

PERCENT CHANGE
/ YEAR

DuPage County

6.5

7.2

 8.1

-0.7

-1.6

ST. CHARLES

2.4

4.3

 8.5

-1.9

-6.1

Kane County

7.3

8.1

 9.3

-0.8

-2.0

Aurora

7.6

8.5

 9.2

-1.0

-2.2

Batavia

6.7

7.6

 7.8

-0.9

-1.1

Elgin

8.2

8.9

11.0

-0.7

-2.8

ST. CHARLES

6.0

6.9

 8.1

-0.9

-2.1

Illinois

8.1

8.9

 9.8

-0.8

-1.7

United States

7.6

8.2

 8.8

-0.6

-1.2

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