Unemployment Rate in IL Surges - Despite Lower Interest Rates, Will People Buy a New House?
DESPITE CONTINUING DOWNWARD PRESSURE ON MORTGAGE RATES, PROSPECTIVE BUYERS STILL FEARFUL OF JOB LOSS, HESITANT TO BUY!
Mortgage Interest Rates in IL are the lowest they have been in over 30 years - in some cases, for the most qualified borrowers, as low as 4.75%. But buyers continue to wait on the sidelines here, despite many housing bargains, because of their fears over job security.
As summarized by James P. Miller in the Chicago Tribune, the IL Unemployment Rate surged to 7.6% last month, up from 7.3% in November. That figure is higher than the U.S. Unemployment rate of 7.2%.
Roughly 36,000 employees were trimmed from IL payrolls in December, mainly in the construction sector, hard hit by the sluggishness in the Real Estate Market in IL and Chicago. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, more than 28,000 construction jobs have been lost in the past four months - an estimated one-tenth of construction jobs across IL.
The manufacturing sector lost 5,200 jobs in December, and the "Business Services" sector, including temporary employees, lost another 4.600 positions.
Miller has more details in his Tribune article.
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