States Hit Hardest By Coronavirus Unemployment: How IL Ranks

ILLINOIS — Even as businesses begin to take steps towards reopening, thousands of additional residents in Illinois filed for unemployment benefits in recent weeks.

The national jobless rate was 14.7 percent in April, the highest since the Great Depression, and many experts expect it will near 20 percent in May.

Our state had 58,359 people file initial advanced claims for unemployment benefits during the week ending on May 23, based on tracking done by the U.S. Department of Labor.

It is a decrease of 14,421 in the same figure from the week prior, when 72,780 Illinoisans filed for unemployment.

Out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, Illinois has had the 29th biggest increase in unemployment claims since the start of the coronavirus crisis, according to the personal finance website WalletHub.

To read the full methodology, visit WalletHub's website.

On a national level, jobless claims have now fallen for eight straight weeks, but about 41 million people have applied for aid since the virus outbreak intensified in March.

However, the Labor Department's report Thursday shows that they are not all still unemployed. Around 21 million people are currently receiving unemployment benefits.

Read More: 41 Million Have Lost Jobs To Coronavirus