Employment Rates in Decatur, IL

The purpose of this article is to assess the local rate of employment and how it has changed over the past decade. My very limited review of the average weekly wages found that wages have increased, but this does not include a breakdown by sector, nor does it address how outliers or vacancies may affect the averages. My limited review of unemployment rates suggests that local employment has declined by nearly 3,000 persons compared to pre-pandemic levels. Based upon my limited review, I am unable to come to any firm conclusions about claims regarding the causes of local employment rates declining.

The "Labor Force" is all people either employed or unemployed. "Unemployed" persons are those who have been available for and looking for work. Folks who are not employed and are not available for work are not included in the "Labor Force".

All data here is referencing Decatur, Illinois (not Macon County), unless otherwise stated.

Census.gov reports the census population as 76,122 in 2010 and 70,522 in 2020, a decline of 5,600 people.

Bls.gov reports the "Labor Force" as 46,601 persons in May 2022 with an unemployment rate of 7.1%. In May 2019, it was 49,211 persons with an unemployment rate of 4.2%. This yields 3,317 unemployed persons in May 2022 and 2,067 unemployed persons in May 2019.

For a fuller view, one should look over the data themselves, as a single month snapshot will give an inaccurate view of local employment. The unemployment rate in January 2019 was 6.6% or 3,221 persons, very near the May 2022 levels. December 2021 unemployment rate was 6.1% or 2,785 persons, the lowest count of unemployed persons (and second lowest unemployment rate) from April 2020 through May 2022.

The Labor Force has (somewhat) steadily declined in Decatur since at least 2012, though the unemployment rate has fluctuated greatly. Decatur population also declined by 5,600 people from 2010 to 2020. The unemployment rate for all of 2013 was greater than 10% and there were over 46,000 employed persons in each month of 2013. The unemployment rate in 2015 got as low as 6.0% in April when there were 46,971 employed persons. From March 2017 through March 2020, the unemployment rate stayed below 6.0%, except for three consecutive months, December 2018 - February 2019.

Bls.gov reports average weekly wages in Macon County at $1,200 for the fourth quarter of 2021. Bls.gov reports average weekly wages in Macon County at $969 for the fourth quarter of 2017. As with most averages, this is not a comprehensive picture of employment opportunities and wages in Macon County.

The overall state of employment in Decatur and Macon County Illinois cannot be fully understood with just a few data points as I have shared here. It is beyond the scope of this article to go more in depth. I have attempted to summarize some of the most notable data points.

Employment Rates in Decatur, IL

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