Lake County Adds 20 Jobs, 30 Job Seekers in July

Lake County just can't get a clean break on unemployment figures this summer. We managed to add 20 jobs in July. Alas, we saw 30 people enter the local labor force, meaning a net increase in unemployment of ten people. We now stand at 5.0%, up 0.1 percentage points from June.

July roughed up everyone in the neighborhood: every county adjoining Lake also saw an uptick in unemployment:

• Brookings: 4.2% (+0.1 from June)
  
• Kingsbury: 4.6% (+0.3)
  
• Miner: 4.8% (+0.3)
  
• McCook: 4.5% (+0.1)
  
• Minnehaha: 4.4% (+0.1)
  
• Moody: 8.1% (+0.6)

Looking for some half-full glasses, a year-over-year comparison finds Lake, Moody, Minnehaha, and Kingsbury counties enjoying slightly lower unemployment in July 2010 than in July 2009. Lake County's unemployment rate is a full percentage point lower than last year: we've lost 40 jobs since last July, but we've also seen 110 people leave our labor force. Miner, McCook, and Brookings counties have each seen small increases in unemployment since last July.

See all of the state's labor force data at the Department of Labor's website.

Local note: those 20 new jobs here in Lake County brings the LAIC's "Forward Madison" initiative within 905 jobs of its anemic goal of maintaining what in 2006 looked like status quo job growth. Just wondering: If the LAIC had not slurped up $2 million in loose change from local businesses, might those businesses have invested that $2 million directly in expansion and hiring and created more job growth on their own?