CHICAGO (AP) — Revised employment figures for Illinois show that the state didn’t lose thousands of jobs in December after all.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security had announced in January that preliminary figures showed the state lost 16,700 jobs in December. But revised figures released Thursday show Illinois actually gained 2,000 jobs that month.
Department spokesman Bob Gough acknowledges the change is “a big revision.”
But he tells The Chicago Tribune Illinois is still working to return to its peak employment levels seen in 2000.
Gough says the state remains about 31,600 jobs short of its peak employment level recorded in September 2000.
Illinois’ jobless rate in January was 5.7 percent, unchanged from December. The state added 1,700 jobs in January, mostly in construction, financial activities and trade, transportation and utilities.
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