Manufacturing Layoffs Drove Decatur Jobless Rate

While jobless rates were falling in most of Illinois' metropolitan areas in December, they were driven higher for a second straight month in Decatur by temporary layoffs at manufacturers like Caterpillar.

Figures released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security show that rates fell in nine of the state's 12 metro areas compared with December 2011.

In Decatur the rate rose 1.7 percentage points to hit 11.8 percent.

According to labor market analyst Ron Payne, much of that increase resulted from temporary layoffs in the manufacturing sector.

He told the Decatur Herald & Review ``a majority of those temporary layoffs were captured in the December data.''

Caterpillar Inc. shut down some areas of its Decatur plant for a week in November and all of December.