Published: March 26, 2004
Business: Economy
Region loses 3,300 jobs in 2003
 Manufacturing sector hit hardest with
2,500 jobs eliminated
By ANNA VOELKER, Rockford Register
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Updated state figures show that the Rock
River Valley posted a net loss of 3,300 jobs last year, 600
more than previously estimated.
The final count, released this week, also shows that the
region lost a net 8,400 jobs from 1998 through 2003,
representing 4.7 percent of the work force in Boone, Winnebago
and Ogle counties.
Previous state estimates pegged the net loss at 6,100 jobs
for the six-year period, or 3.4 percent of the work force.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security releases
preliminary estimates on local employment by industry.
The estimates are based on monthly surveys of businesses
that help determine job gains and losses.
The labor force estimates are separate from the state’s
monthly report on the local unemployment rate.
The state reaches final labor force numbers at the end of
each year after comparing preliminary estimates with
unemployment insurance records submitted by employers.
Those records determine how many people are employed at
each company.
The revised labor force figures show that the region last
year lost 2,500 manufacturing jobs, the hardest hit job
category.
But it wasn’t the worst year-over-year loss for local
manufacturing in the past five years.
From 2000 to 2001, the area lost 4,700 manufacturing jobs.
An additional 300 jobs each were lost last year in
wholesale trade, retail trade, and in leisure and hospitality.
The biggest job gain in 2003 was in educational and health
services with 400 new jobs.
Professional and business services jobs increased by 300
last year.
The net loss in jobs helped push the Rock River Valley’s
unemployment rate to a 10-year high of 8.3 percent last year.
The last time the annual unemployment rate was higher was
1993, the tail end of a recession when local unemployment
stood at 9 percent.
It also marked the third consecutive year of rising local
unemployment.
The jobless rate was 7.8 percent in 2002 and 6.5 percent in
2001.
The region has long relied on its manufacturing base, which
is starting to rebound after a prolonged recession.
In 1998, the Rock River Valley had 51,800 manufacturing
jobs. By 2003, the size of the factory work force had shrunk
26 percent to 38,300 jobs.Warehousing, wholesale and retail
trade, and leisure and hospitality employers cut a total of
2,600 jobs from 1998 to 2003.
The region’s biggest percentage gain over the past five
years was in construction jobs, up 27.5 percent or 2,300 jobs.
In 1998, a total 6,900 people worked in construction jobs.
Last year, 8,800 worked in the construction field.
Another gain in the last five years was in the service
industry, which includes health care and education.
In 1998, there were 19,900 service jobs.
In 2003, there were 22,200, an 11.6 percent increase.
Contact: mailto:avoelker@registerstartower.com
815-987-1346
Published: March 26,
2004
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