Sunlight Breaking Through the Rain: Unemployment Rate Now 7.1 Percent

News from the state’s jobs front shows the Illinois unemployment rate continued its four-month descent, according to preliminary data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES).

June’s unemployment rate, which is seasonally adjusted, fell to 7.1 percent from 7.5 in May – the largest quarterly decline since records began in 1976 and lowest level since October 2008 when it was 7.0 percent.

But do the statistics tell the entire story? We broke down the statistics for you and look to see if they tell a different story.

As the unemployment rate goes down, lawmakers are looking at increasing the minimum wage in the state and in Chicago.

With that in mind, we provide you with an interactive map to find out how many hours you need to work to make a living wage where you live.

This article appears on all Patch Chicago sites. The views expressed in this post are those of Reboot Illinois and do not reflect those of Patch or its editors.

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