A new report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security shows the state’s jobless rate was unchanged during January at 5.7 percent.

Non-farm payrolls increased by 1,700 jobs over the month, based on preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The modest monthly gain in January payrolls, however, kept Illinois’ job growth well below the national average. During January Illinois was 31,900 jobs short of its peak employment level in September of 2000.

IDES Director Jeff Mays said, ‘’clearly, we’re disappointed that job growth hasn’t been more robust as we are still far behind the peak employment level of nearly 17 years ago.’’

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Director Sean McCarthy says if Illinois had grown at the same rate as the nation since the beginning of the recovery in 2010, the state would have an additional 222,700 jobs.

The Illinois unemployment rate of 5.7 percent in January compared to a national rate of 4.8 percent.

94.1 WGFA