State Stix

Nothing but nickels and lOUs

In December the state's end-of-month balance was $50.995 million. The average daily available balance was $51.732 million. This balance was possible only because the state was holding $486 million in unpaid bills as of December 31. The comptroller also estimated that roughly $500 million in bills was being held in the Department of Public Aid.

Source: Office of the Comptroller.

Broad-based job losses

In December the national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 7.1 percent, up from 6.9 percent in November. Illinois' was 9.3 percent, up from 8.5 percent.

"Our numbers indicate that the recession has taken hold and gained momentum in the fourth quarter, with November being a watershed month," said Department of Employment Security Director Loleta A. Didrickson. All sectors showed declines except retailing, which had mixed gains. Job losses affected all occupations in every area of the state. Mass layoffs (50 or more people) were reported by 75 Illinois companies in November and by 88 in December.

In December 5.491 million people were working in Illinois, up by 42,000 since November, and 565,000 people were unemployed, up by 60,000. The state's civilian labor force in December had 6.056 million people, up by 102,000 from November — the biggest gain since February 1989. Between November 1990 and November 1991 Chicago lost 128,762 jobs; the Illinois sector of St. Louis lost 13,294, and Lake County lost 10,419.

Final November unemployment rates in the state's metro areas compared to rates in November 1990 (in parenthesis):

Aurora-Elgin, 8.5 percent (5.8 percent).
Bloomington-Normal, 6.2 percent (3.9 percent).
Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul, 5.6 percent (3.6 percent).
Chicago, 7.9 percent (5.8 percent).
Decatur, 10.7 percent (6.8 percent).
Joliet, 9.0 percent (5.8 percent).
Kankakee, 9.9 percent (6.7 percent).
Lake County, 5.9 percent (4.3 percent).
Quad Cities (Illinois sector), 9.3 percent (6.0 percent).
Peoria, 9.0 percent (5.6 percent).
Rockford, 9.4 percent (6.2 percent).
Springfield, 6.4 percent (4.0 percent).
St. Louis (Illinois sector), 9.4 percent (6.2 percent).

Source: Department of Employment Security.

Margaret S. Knoepfle

February 1992/Illinois Issues/35