The latest unemployment data for Kankakee County in July 2026 was 4.1%. This is down significantly from January where we saw one of our highest rates in years at 7.2%.
Being below the national and state average is not typical for Kankakee County, and our July numbers seemed encouraging on the surface.
In digging deeper, we found that while our unemployment number is lower, our workforce numbers are lower from a year ago as well, with 651 fewer people in the workforce, and down 1,800 from July 2024. Fewer people are looking for jobs.
What do these numbers mean? This can typically mean workers are discouraged and marginalized. Discouraged workers are people who want a job and are available, but have stopped looking due to believing they can’t find work. Marginalized workers want to work and are available, but aren’t counted in our labor force number due to not being able to find a job over a period of time.
However, despite these numbers, we have many employers hiring, expanding their businesses, and growing their workforce, and new companies coming to Kankakee County. Our healthcare sector has over 6,000 employees across multiple employers. Our Home increased from 40 employees to over 380. Mighty Cake Co. is relocating to Kankakee County and hiring 300 employees. And Gotion Illinois will increase their employee count to around 1,000 by the end of 2026. So while we continue to dig deep into the numbers to understand the entirety of the story, we do know that we have employers looking for workers to fill necessary positions.
Have questions? Reach out to Angela Morrey, President & CEO at the Economic Alliance of Kankakee County at 815.935.1177 or amorrey@kankakeecountyed.org.
