Labor stats offer mixed bag for Illinois
[May 12, 2026]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The Trump administration says the United States
saw smashing job growth in April, but Illinois’ story is a mixed bag.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said the U.S. economy added 115,000 jobs
in April while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.
"The April jobs report smashing expectations thanks to robust
private-sector growth is yet another sign that the American economy
remains on a solid trajectory under President Trump,” White House
spokesman Kush Desai said.
University of Chicago professor Steven Durlauf said the news was
moderately good.
“It's really a labor market that continues to exhibit stasis. What I
mean by that is the unemployment rate didn't change. There's some job
growth. There's not much wage growth,” Durlauf told The Center Square.
The Illinois unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in March, up from 5.0% in
February.
Total nonfarm jobs decreased in eight of the state’s metropolitan areas,
but the Champaign-Urbana area saw its 14th consecutive month of
year-over-year growth.
Carly McCrory-McKay, Executive Director of the Champaign County Economic
Development Corporation, said agriculture technology has helped drive
investment.
“While of course the University of Illinois remains a major economic
driver, we’ve seen a lot of growth, particularly in ag and in
manufacturing in recent months,” McCrory-McKay told The Center Square.
Erg Bio recently closed a $6.5 seed round for startups in Central
Illinois.
Last October, global crop protection company Rainbow announced the grand
opening of its new partner production center in Champaign.
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A laptop displays an employment and unemployment graph on a desk.
Photo: Emilee Calametti / The Center Square
McCrory-McKay said the numbers reflect the strength and diversity of
Champaign County’s regional economy, with higher education and
health care also fueling growth.
Nationally, Durlauf said about a third of the jobs added last month
came in health care.
The U of C professor said the job market for small businesses
softened due to higher energy prices fueled by the armed conflict in
the Middle East.
“One doesn't want to say that it doesn't matter that the overall
numbers went up, but once you decompose it, what you don't see is
uniform growth,” Durlauf said.
The NFIB Small Business Employment Index fell in April for the
second straight month, to 100.4. The current reading is below the
2025 average of 101.2 but slightly above the historical average of
100.0.
Champaign-Urbana is once again an outlier. McCrory-McKay said her
office’s small business development center worked with more than 30
startups in the last year.
“We see a lot of interest in entrepreneurship here across the board,
and of course we see a lot of activity that’s coming out of the
University of Illinois,” McCrory-McKay said.
McCrory-McKay said Champaign County has seen particularly strong
small business growth in the hospitality sector.
Brett Rowland contributed to this story.
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