State Stix

General funds

September's end-of-month general funds balance was $152.721 million. This balance was possible because the comptroller was holding $283 million in bills the state lacked the cash to pay. The average daily available balance was $91.674 million.

Source: Office of the Comptroller.

Employment

The national seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September was 6.7 percent, down from 6.8 percent in August. Illinois' was 7.1 percent, down from 7.2 percent.

In September, 5.995 million people were in the state's civilian labor force, a decrease of 15,000 from September 1990 and 45,000 from September 1989. There were 5.569 million people employed, 18,000 fewer than in September 1990 and 105,000 fewer than in September 1989. There were 426,000 people looking for work, 3,000 more than in September 1990 and 60,000 more than in September 1989.

School employees returned to work, but many students left the labor force to go back to school. Construction employment held stable. Seasonal declines in the service sector included: amusements, social service agencies, real estate and the postal service.

Final unemployment rates in the state's major metro areas in July were:

Aurora-Elgin, 7.2 percent.

Bloomington-Normal, 4.1 percent.

Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul, 4.3 percent.

Chicago, 6.2 percent.

Decatur, 11.0 percent.

Joliet, 6.9 percent.

Kankakee, 7.9 percent.

Lake County, 4.0 percent.

Peoria, 6.2 percent.

Quad Cities (Illinois sector), 6.6 percent.

Rockford, 6.9 percent.

Springfield, 4.3 percent.

St. Louis (Illinois sector), 7.4 percent.

Source: Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

What happened in Decatur?

Decatur's final jobless rate jumped from 8.9 percent in June to 11.0 percent in July. The cause was temporary lay-offs in manufacturing, affecting over 1,500 workers. In August the workers were hired back, and Decatur's preliminary unemployment rate dropped to 9.1 percent. Generally, manufacturing has held firm in Illinois, but there are some weak areas — such as farm equipment.

Source: Springfield office, IDES.

Margaret S. Knoepfle

26/Novemher 1991 /Illinois Issues