Champaign-Area Unemployment Rate Improved In July: Feds

CHAMPAIGN, IL — The U.S. economic recovery slowed in August, particularly in the job market, as the coronavirus' delta variant spread across the country.

Nationally, non-farm payroll employment rose by 235,000 jobs in August, which was tepid compared with the 1.1 million jobs added in July and 962,000 in June, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The national unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 5.2 percent in August. The latest available local unemployment figures are for July; the rate improved since June in the Champaign area, and continues to be much lower than the beginning of the pandemic.

The Champaign County unemployment rate was 5.2 percent in July, down from 5.8 percent in June. That reflected significant improvement from June 2020, when the unemployment rate stood at 9.3 percent.

The July unemployment rate in Champaign County was lower than the Illinois rate of 7.0 percent, according to the latest local figures from the BLS.

Nationally, 17 million jobs were added back to the economy since April 2020. Still, the country is down 5.3 million positions (3.5 percent) from pre-pandemic levels.

Average hourly wages grew for the fifth month in a row with a 17-cent gain in August, up to $30.73.

The leisure and hospitality industry job gains stalled in August after averaging 350,000 new jobs per month in the prior six months.

Editor's note: This post was automatically generated using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program. Please report any errors or other feedback to content@patch.com.