CHICAGO (AP) — Unemployment across Illinois inched lower in April, the eighth consecutive monthly decrease, but job growth all but stalled, according to a report from the state Department of Employment Security released Thursday.
Statewide unemployment fell to 8.7 percent, down from 8.8 percent in March, the department said in its regular monthly report on joblessness in Illinois. The national jobless rate was 8.1 percent in April, the federal government said last week.
Illinois employers created just 100 more jobs than they cut in April, and most of the growth was in the manufacturing sector and among firms in the professional and business-services sector. The latter includes many temporary jobs, and experts say they're signals that employers are still uneasy about the economy.
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"We're starting to see a little bit of concern over what is going to happen in the fall," said Tom Gimbel, CEO of Chicago-based staffing firm LaSalle Network.
Their concerns have more to do with economic troubles in Europe than at home, he said. "They're concerned even if they don't have international exposure — they're looking at their exposure (from) their client base, saying the issues of Greece, the issues of Germany."
But, the slow April aside, job creation over the past three months in Illinois averaged a relatively steady 6,300 net new jobs a month, Department of Employment Security spokesman Greg Rivara said.
"That three-month moving average will smooth the wild swings from month to month," he said, noting that, in March, the state added a net 9,100 jobs.
Manufacturing firms added a net 2,600 jobs in April, while government employers added 2,300 jobs and professional and businesses services firms added 2,000, according to the report.
Manufacturing has been one of the bright spots in the Illinois economy for months, and many of those temporary jobs in the professional and businesses services are used by manufacturers who have demand beyond what their staffs can handle but aren't confident enough to add full-time employees, Rivara said.
He wasn't sure why government jobs were being added, but noted that most were hires by local governments and the federal government.
Construction hiring in Illinois dropped by 3,200 jobs, the second straight sharp monthly decrease. The other area with significant losses was the educational and health services sector, which lost 3,400 jobs more than it created in April.
The Department of Employment Security blames some of the April slowdown on unusually good weather earlier this year that led some employers to expedite seasonal hiring that typically happens in April and May. Construction firms, for instance, added 6,000 net new jobs in February.
About this time last year, Rivara pointed out, the effects of Japan's tsunami slowed the U.S. economy and made employers cautious.
This year, Gimbel said, it appears to be fear of what could happen with troubled European economies.
"They're prepared for a small dip," Gimbel said. "They just don't know what's next (enough) to invest huge amounts of capital and infrastructure."
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