Statewide, the unemployment rate was 4.7%, down from 5% in February and 6.7% last year.

“It appears to be less than four (percent), which we had expected,” said Tony Fuhrmann, director of Madison County Employment Training (MCET).

“As seasonal employees returned to work, we thought it would go down.”

He noted that the labor force, which peaked at between 134,000 and 136,000 before the pandemic, is now around 131,000.

The data comes from Tim Sullivan, professor of economics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, who works with MCET.

The number of people in Madison County’s labor force and general population is down about 2% from about six years ago, Fuhrmann said. At the same time, the number of people aged 65 and over has increased from 14.2% to 17.3% of the county’s population.

“I don’t think the bodies are there to fill the job,” he said. “You still hear about people not wanting to work, but I don’t think that’s true.”

Because more seniors have retired or dropped out of the workforce due to the pandemic, this is having a major impact.

However, he noted that some have somehow returned to the job market and recent changes in the rate of inflation and the stock market may cause some to rethink that.

“It may have been more of a time out than a retreat, but time will tell,” he said.

“People who want a job have a job,” he said.

Traditionally, unemployment rates of around 5% or less were called “full employment”, which takes into account people entering and leaving the labor force, moving from one job or industry to another, and a certain percentage of people considered “unemployable”. .”

However, he said that figure has been harder to define for some time.

“If I’m someone looking for a job or wanting to change jobs, it’s the best environment I’ve seen in my life,” he said.

In addition to the availability of jobs, wages have also increased to the point where in many cases the issue of “minimum wage” no longer matters.

“Jobs that used to be minimum wage are now $17 to $18,” he said. “The $15 an hour minimum wage for many industries isn’t even relevant anymore.”

State officials continue to tout the improved numbers.

“Illinois’ economy continues on a positive trajectory,” Deputy Governor Andy Manar said. “We’re ready to support job seekers and employers with innovative resources to connect across the state.”

In the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), six of eight counties reported rates below 4%, and all counties saw declines from the previous month. Madison, Macoupin and Bond counties were all at 3.9%; while Jersey County was at 3.6%, Clinton County at 3%, and Monroe County at 2.7%.

St. Clair County was at 4.9%, down from 5.5% in March; and Calhoun County fell 0.6% to 4.1%.

According to IDES, Metro East’s labor force grew by 371 between March 2021-2022 from 333,829 to 334,200. The number of employed people increased by 6,069 over the same period to 314,401 at 320,470.

The largest increases over this period were in leisure and hospitality, up 2,000; government, up 500; manufacturing, up 400; and mining and construction, other services, and professional and business services, all up 200.

Employment fell in transportation, warehousing and utilities, down 1,000; retail, down 700; and financial activities, down 300.