EDC provides economic outlook for Bloomington-Normal

Posted on December 17, 2015

Aimee Ingalls with the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council presents the quarterly BN By The Numbers at the ISU Alumni Center Thursday. (Joe Ragusa/WJBC)

By Joe Ragusa

NORMAL – Members of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council provided a snapshot into the local economy at Thursday’s BN By The Numbers presentation.

There’s both good and bad news when it comes to the labor market in Illinois. Aimee Ingalls of the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council said the bad news is the unemployment rate is relatively high.

“And despite a 2.5 percent drop in the unemployment rate (over 13 months), Illinois still has the highest unemployment rate in the midwest region,” Ingalls said. “Illinois is among a handful of states that still have jobs to make up from the recession.”

The good news though is that more people are participating in the labor force.

“What that means is there are greater job opportunities out there for people so they’re entering the labor market and the labor force with more confidence in the labor market,” Ingalls said.

Ingalls said that Millennials who were hit hard by the recession are in great demand now, but Bloomington-Normal will have a tough time keeping talented young people in the area.

Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].

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