State Stix

General funds; $185 million loan repayment

The general funds balance was $183.6 million on April 30; it was $99.6 million on June 30. The backlog of unpaid bills April 30 was $751.7 million; it was $305.4 million at the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1. The $ 185 million loan the state took out last August is due for repayment June 15.

Source: Office of the Comptroller.

Illinois unemployment up slightly, jobless claims down in April

The nation's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped slightly in April to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent in March, while Illinois' seasonally adjusted rate rose slightly to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent. Initial jobless claims in Illinois for April totaled 67, 053, down from 69, 222 during March. Among the 11 most populous states, Illinois stayed in sixth place.

Illinois' labor force in April was 6.044 million people, virtually the same as a year ago (6.042 million) when the unemployment rate was 6.4 percent. This April, Illinois' labor force included 5.569 million employed and 476,000 unemployed; last April, 5.653 million had jobs, 389,000 were unemployed.

In major metropolitan areas across the state, March unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) dropped slightly.

Aurora-Elgin (Kane and Kendall counties), 9.2 percent, down 0.5 percent from February.

Bloomington-Normal (McLean County), 5.1 percent, down 0.7 percent.

Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul (Champaign County), 4.9 percent, down 0.4 percent.

Chicago (Cook, DuPage and McHenry counties), 7.8 percent, down 0.5 percent.

Davenport - Rock Island - Moline, Illinois portion (Henry and Rock Island counties), 8.7 percent, down 0.9 percent.

Decatur (Macon County), 9.9 percent, down 0.8 percent.

Joliet (Grundy and Will counties), 9.6 percent, down 0.9 percent.

Kankakee (Kankakee County), 9.8 percent, down 0.8 percent.

Lake County, 5.6 percent, down 0.6 percent.

Peoria (Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties), 8.2 percent, down 0.6 percent.

Rockford (Boone and Winnebago counties), 10.7 percent, up 1.6 percent.

Springfield (Menard and Sangamon counties), 5.9 percent, down 0.6 percent.

St. Louis, Illinois portion (Clinton, Jersey, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties), 8.7 percent, down 1.3 percent.

Source: Illinois Department of Employment Security.

June 1992/Illinois Issues/33