After several months of an ever-improving unemployment rate, both Danville and Vermilion County saw those streaks end last month.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security reports that Danville alone had the same unemployment rate of 8 percent in both November and December. In Vermilion County, the unemployment rate actually increased in December from 6.2 percent to 6.4 percent.
Looking at the year-over-year statistics, the non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in Vermilion County increased to 6.4 percent in December 2020 from 5.2 percent in December 2019. The last time the December rate was equal to or higher was in 2016 when it was 7.2 percent.
Non-farm employment decreased by 1,000 compared to last December.
The Manufacturing, Educational-Health Services, and Leisure-Hospitality sectors recorded the largest employment declines compared to one year ago. The Retail Trade and Transportation-Warehousing-Utilities sectors reported payroll gains.
The city of Champaign saw its unemployment rate increase by three-tenths of a percent to 5.2 percent from last month, while Urbana’s rate increased by two tenths of a percent to 4.9 percent.
