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Economy
KEY FINDINGS:
The 2015 Sangamon County Citizen Survey finds residents slightly less pessimistic about
personal and county economic conditions.
The unemployment rate for Sangamon County in April 2015, according to the U.S.
Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics is 4.3 percent. The 2015 Sangamon
County Citizen Survey found that 4.7 percent of residents are unemployed and currently
seeking employment.
In 2013, 21 percent of employed residents reported they were underemployed in their
current position. The 2015 survey finds the percent of employed residents who report
being currently underemployed has decreased to 17 percent.
The percent of Sangamon County residents who report their personal financial condition
is “worse off” than it was 12 months ago has decreased from 21 percent in 2013 to 13
percent in 2015. The percent of Sangamon County residents who believe that local
business conditions are “worse off” than they were 12 months ago has decreased from
30 percent in 2013 to 19 percent in 2015. Despite this, the survey does not find an
increase in the percent of Sangamon County residents who think their personal financial
and local business conditions are “better off.” Those numbers remain static from 2013 to
2015 (25 percent report their personal finances are better off than a year in 2013 and
2015, while 12 percent report that local business conditions are better off in 2013 and
2015).
Personal economic conditions differ by demographic group (see table on next page).
70%
2015 survey responses to the following: How are your personal
financial and local area business conditions today, compared to
a year ago?
62%
62%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
25%
19%
12%
13%
10%
0%
Better off
About the same
Worse off
Personal financial conditions
Local area business conditions