Finding work in a state with 9.1 percent unemployment is not easy. The Illinois Department of Employment Security knows this and is providing a variety of tools and programs to help unemployed workers find a job.

If you are unemployed and have been so for a while, it is easy to get disappointed and stop searching for work. This is a bad idea for two reasons. First, you are even less likely to find a job, and once your benefits run out you will be in a even worse situation to find work. As you know to well, searching for work costs money. Just transportation is a serious expense when you are unemployed and need to get to interviews and distribute resumes.

In May 2011, Illinois unemployment rate was the same as the national average, that is to say 9.1 percent. However, if you are unemployed and young, your chances of finding employment in Illinois are much slimmer. The Illinois unemployment rate for teenagers is 25.8, 1.6 percent higher than the national average 24.2 percent. The situation is even worse for Illinois black teenagers, which have an unemployment rate of 47.7 percent and Illinois Hispanic teenagers, which have an unemployment rate of 26 percent. White teenagers had an unemployment rate of 24.7 percent.