Updated

Updated · WSJD 100.5 · Jul 6

Edwards County Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.6% as Champion Closure Cuts 1,000 Regional Jobs

Updated

Updated · WSJD 100.5 · Jul 6

Edwards County Jobless Rate Jumps to 9.6% as Champion Closure Cuts 1,000 Regional Jobs

1 articles · Updated · WSJD 100.5 · Jul 6

Edwards County posted a 9.6% unemployment rate in May, up from 3.7% a year earlier and the highest in southern Illinois as southeastern counties continued absorbing the Champion Laboratories shutdown.
1,000 nonfarm jobs disappeared across the Olney-Mount Carmel labor market from May 2025, with manufacturing accounting for 675 lost positions and no sector recording year-over-year gains.
Wabash rose to 4.8% from 3.3%, Lawrence to 4.7% from 3.8%, Wayne to 4.9% from 3.7%, and Richland to 4.0% from 3.2%.
State officials tied the weaker labor market to the Albion plant closure earlier this year, which eliminated hundreds of manufacturing jobs and continues to weigh on southeastern Illinois.

Sources

As a major factory reopens, how will it align with Illinois' ambitious climate goals for a greener industrial sector?

A town's largest employer is reopening under new ownership. Will the promised jobs restore what the community lost?

Beyond saving 300 local jobs, is this factory acquisition a calculated move to dominate the national auto parts market?

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