Unemployment in Illinois rose to 16.7 percent in April with more than 762,000 jobs lost according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Both are record highs. IDES also reports nearly 73,000 new initial unemployment claims for the week ending May 16. The department has processed more than 1.2 million jobless claims since March 1.
Illinois State Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch called on Governor JB Pritzker to begin including unemployment statistics in the daily COVID-19 report, saying the unemployment numbers need to be on the same footing as the public health metrics.
Illinois health officials reported 2,268 new COVID-19 cases in Thursday’s update with 87 deaths. State totals are now 102,686 cases with 4,607 deaths. Laboratories processed 29,307 tests, a single-day high.
