Job Market Dismal in LITH, County

The job market saw a dismal month in May. 

While economists expected job gains and a drop in the jobless rate over the past month, just-released job numbers show the unemployment rate increased from 9 to 9.1 percent nationally, according to CNN.

In McHenry County, where May numbers are not yet available, the jobless rate increased from 8.5 percent in March to 8.9 percent in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Those numbers are still better than a year ago when the unemployment rate was at 10.4 percent in April 2010 in McHenry County.

• Lake in the Hills unemployment rate increased from 7.6 to 7.8 percent from March to April 2011. The jobless rate was 9.7 percent in LITH in April 2010.
• Crystal Lake's jobless rate remained unchanged from March to April at 8.3 percent. The unemployment rate was 10.2 percent in April 2010.
• In Algonquin, the unemployment rate decreased from 7.7 to 7.6 percent from March to April 2011. The unemployment rate was 9.7 percent in April 2010.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the following data in a Friday news release:

• The number of long-term unemployed — meaning those who have been jobless for over than 27 weeks — increased by 360,000 to 6.2 million.  
• Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men was 8.9 percent, adult women was 8.0 percent, teenagers  was 24.2 percent, whites was 8.0 percent, blacks was 16.2 percent, and Hispanics was 11.9 percent. These groups showed little or no change in May.