For one month, Kankakee Co. jobless rate dipped below state

KANKAKEE – Seemingly, no matter the situation, the time of year or the economic news washing across Illinois, Kankakee County’s jobless rate has always outpaced the state’s figure.

That changed when April’s jobless statistics were released.

And while it was not a cause for celebration, it was worth noting.

At the regular board meetings of the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County, the unemployment figures have always been included in the presentation, whether the data is viewed positively or negatively.

At the most recent meeting held at Peddinghaus, Inc., in Bradley, Tim Nugent, alliance president and CEO, said Kankakee County’s unemployment figure came in at 4.2%.

Illinois came in at 4.5%. As a whole, the United States’ percentage was 3.9%.

In May, it was back to normal as the Kankakee County unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.5% while the state’s level checked in at 4.4%.

Regarding the April figure, Nugent said it was the first time since taking the economic alliance post that Kankakee County has had a lower unemployment rate than Illinois.

Nugent said it shows Kankakee County’s efforts in business and industry recruitment and job training programs are beginning to show results.

He credited courses and programs at Kankakee Community College, Olivet Nazarene University, Governors State University and the Kankakee Area Career Center for offering job training opportunities.

“Maybe this (training) is starting to kick in. We are looking for any good news so we can take advantage of it,” he said.

In April, there were 2,146 known unemployed individuals in Kankakee County out of a total workforce of 50,529. In May, the known jobless figure was 2,220 out of a total workforce of 49,688, raising the rate to 4.5%.

In neighboring Iroquois County, the May rate also came in better than Kankakee County at 3.8%.

In nearby Will County, the May jobless rate was 4.6%, just a notch above Kankakee’s 4.5%.

Some individual municipalities are named in the unemployment data. The city of Kankakee has a May unemployment level of 5.9%, which matched its April mark.

Nugent was not shocked by the May jobless increase. He noted recent job cuts in Momence at the Gilster-Mary Lee chocolate mix plant and the shutdown of the Johnsonville Foods facility cost the area about 350 jobs.

While celebrating the April figure, Nugent said it is a constant refrain from area leadership to get the county percentage below the state.

“We take this one month. I’m not sure what’s with the state for their number to go higher, but I view this as a positive sign,” he said. “The goal is to get people off of the unemployment rolls and into jobs. There are still plenty of unfilled jobs within this county.”

Nugent said in a typical month within the past several months, there are routinely 1,600 to 1,800 job openings.

Many are in food service, others are entry-level positions and some are in transportation. It was not all that long ago, however, that Kankakee County routinely had as many as 3,000 job openings every month.

“It sometimes takes months or even years for education to take effect. All we can do is identify a problem and come up with a solution,” Nugent said. “The education systems came up with the training.”

But, he said, the 4% unemployment is a far cry from days past when it was routinely in the 6%, 7% or 8% level.

“We will never get to zero, but we want to get as close to it as we can.”