Decatur area unemployment rate continues unabated climb to 14.6 percent

CHRIS LUSVARDI - H&R Staff Writer

Posted: Friday, April 2, 2010 12:01 am


DECATUR - As the Decatur-area unemployment rate continues to increase, one local business owner questioned just how serious people are about finding jobs.


In more than 34 years working for Dairy Queen, local franchise owner Wendell Bradley said he has never had as many problems hiring staff as he does now. The problems come, even as the Decatur unemployment rate in February rose to 14.6 percent, a 4.5 percentage point increase from last year, according to Illinois Department of Employment Security statistics released Thursday.

The February rate was the highest since 1983, when it was 19 percent. In January, it was 14.4 percent.
"We are struggling to find staff, and I know that just sounds absurd," Bradley said Wednesday during a state jobs task force meeting at the Decatur Civic Center. "We had never experienced that before. People just aren't wanting to work." Bradley said it appears, in certain cases, some people would rather collect unemployment benefits than work.

"They think if they can make as much money on unemployment, so why should I work?" Bradley said. "It can be easier staying on unemployment. They establish a lifestyle."In addition to not finding as many hourly employees as he would like, Bradley said it has been a problem finding enough qualified candidates for management positions.

With people not working, it's not just a problem for small businesses, Bradley said. The entire economy can suffer as people aren't spending money at restaurants and aren't buying items such as gas. Not everyone who is out of work is counted in the unemployment figures, said Greg Rivara, a spokesman for the Department of Employment Security. To be counted, a person must continue to look for work, he said.

"Unemployment was never intended to be permanent," Rivara said. "It was intended to be a bridge. Unemployment was never set up so that a person is forced to take the first available job." Having time to search for a job can help in the long term match a person's skill sets to help with wage standards and increase productivity, Rivara said.

The maximum amount of time a person can continue to collect unemployment benefits is 99 weeks, or nearly two years, Rivara said. The department can check to see if those collecting benefits remain certified to do so, and cheating the system is not advisable, Rivara said. Those found to be cheating the system are ineligible to collect benefits again until they find a job, Rivara said.

"In this economy, that would be a tough risk to take," Rivara said. Until the market bounces back, people can continue to use this time to seek additional training, said Ron Payne, a labor market analyst with the Department of Employment Security. Places such as the Illinois WorkNet Center at 757 W. Pershing Road offer the resources to help, Payne said. "Go over to these offices and check out these services," he said.

Payne said the unemployment rate continues to be high, even as it shows signs of stabilization. The Decatur area lost 2,700 jobs over the year, as manufacturing continued to take the heaviest hit, with 1,300 positions lost, Payne said. "Until we see some progress in the manufacturing numbers on a national basis, we can't look for a whole lot until that happens," Payne said. "We're likely to see ups and downs as we come out of this."

Payne is optimistic that more of an uptick has been occurring since the February data was collected. Upcoming totals could contain gains in outdoor work as construction and lawn care pick up, he said. The financial activities sector increased by 100 positions in February, while other sectors slipped.

Decatur isn't the only Illinois city to feel the effects of the recession. All 12 metro areas in the state have increased in unemployment for 33 consecutive months.Decatur is above both the Illinois and national not seasonally adjusted unemployment rates. The rate was 12 percent in the state and 10.4 percent for the nation. Rockford was the highest at 18.6 percent, followed by Kankakee-Bradley at 16.1 percent and Danville at 15.1 percent. Those areas rely heavily on manufacturing, which Payne said are the areas that have been hit the hardest.



clusvardi@herald-review.com

421-7972

Feb. 2010 Feb. 2009



Christian County 12.6 percent 9.7 percent



Coles County 11.4 percent 8.8 percent



DeWitt County 12.0 percent 8.6 percent



Douglas County 12.0 percent 9.0 percent



Effingham County 11.6 percent 8.4 percent



Fayette County 15.6 percent 11.5 percent



Logan County 12.2 percent 9.3 percent



Macon County 14.6 percent 10.1 percent



Moultrie County 11.3 percent 8.3 percent



Piatt County 11.4 percent 7.7 percent



Shelby County 13.6 percent 10.0 percent