Almost Half Of IL Metro Areas Still Report Job Recovery Slowed By Pandemic

(Springfield, IL) — Almost half of Illinois’ metro areas still report a sluggish job recovery in the aftermath of the pandemic. New data from January shows six of the 13 metro areas in the state reported new jobs, with an overall loss of 800 jobs. The Champaign-Urbana metro area reported the biggest increase in adding non-farm jobs, up more than one-and-a-half percent. The metro area suffering the most losses was the Kankakee area with almost 200 reported.