As more businesses opened up last month, the unemployment rate in Wabash County dropped from one of the highest levels ever recorded in April. In May, the Wabash County dropped to 18.1%, down from the 24.5% mark the previous month. The jobless rate in May of 2019 was 3.3%.
According to the Ilinois Department of Employment Security, employment gains in the area were posted in government, trade, transportation, and utilities, and information. Employment losses were reported in the manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, construction, professional and business services, and financial activities.
Wabash County had the highest jobless rate in May in the Mt. Carmel-Olney area and the third highest in all of southern Illinois where the highest rate was 19.1% in Franklin County and the lowest was in Richland County at 11.5%.