BLOOMINGTON - McLean County surpassed its highest recorded unemployment rate last month. The county's 5.5 percent jobless rate in June was the area's worst since the Illinois Department of Employment Security began recording statistics comparable to the current tracking methods in 1990, beating the previous high of 5.4 percent in February 2005. | Local Bennigan's closed

The previous record for a June unemployment rate was 4.6 percent in 2004.

The June 2008 rate also was more than a percent higher than the 4.4 percent rate in May.

"We're starting to experience employment reductions," said IDES analyst Tom Austin. "We're starting to feel some of those national economic pressures."

At the same time, Bloomington-Normal's unemployment is still not any worse than the rest of the state or nation.

Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an unchanged 5.5 percent June jobless rate while unemployment in Illinois moved from 6.4 percent in May to 6.8 percent in June.

McLean also tied for the eighth-lowest unemployment rate in the state with Tazewell and Marshall counties.

Nonetheless, job market conditions are worse instead of better as fewer people had jobs and more people were unemployed in June.

Out of a total labor force of 91,146 people, 86,145 had jobs and 5,001 were looking for work in June. That compares to a labor force of 91,743 people in May when 87,749 workers had jobs and 3,994 residents were unemployed.

High school and college students who enter the job market during summer breaks from school often place upward pressure on the unemployment rate from May to June, Austin said. But this year, the addition of seasonal job seekers is too much for the market to absorb, he said.

"This year, it's been more difficult for those individuals to gain that summer employment," Austin said. "Industries aren't growing like they had been in 2007."

Seasonal part-time workers and college graduates also are competing with experienced workers who have been laid-off from their jobs, Austin said.

Still, Bloomington-Normal also added 200 jobs over the year for a total of 90,400 jobs. Financial activities and government created the most new jobs since June 2007.

Elsewhere in Central Illinois, unemployment rates also increased last month.

Woodford County's jobless rate increased from 3.7 percent in May to 4.6 percent in June.

DeWitt County unemployment rose from 5.5 percent in May to 6.4 percent in June.

Unemployment increased from 5.1 percent in May to 6.4 percent in June in Ford County.

LaSalle County unemployment increased to 8.2 percent last month, up from 7 percent the previous month.

The jobless rate in Livingston County changed from 5.4 percent in May to 6.2 percent last month.

Logan County unemployment jumped from 6.2 percent in May to 7.5 percent last month.

Tazewell County's jobless rate jumped from 4.4 percent in May to 5.5 percent in June.

Brown County had the lowest unemployment rate at 4.5 percent - an increase from 3.7 percent in May - while Hardin County recorded the highest jobless rate at 11 percent, up almost three points from 8.4 percent the previous month.