Illinois is making gains in employment: 117,000 jobs gained since the recovery started in 2010, says Jay Rowell, director of the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
 
But there have been ups and downs in those numbers: Some months have shown large gains, while others have shown losses, and there might be a slowdown this summer, especially if Europe is economically unstable.
 
“We endured a similar soft patch in May and June and July of last year, for almost exactly the same reasons,” he said. “So knowing this, many private-sector economists are predicting that Illinois’ economy will grow at about a 2.5 percent rate, on average, for the next few years.”
 
The number of available positions posted on line is now 179,270, equal to the pre-recession peak.
 
Since the recovery began, Illinois has added 140,700 corporate-sector jobs, while losing 23,500 in the government sector.

(Posted 6-12-12 at 0:02am, Illinois Radio Network)