Amid the health concerns and quarantining the economy is taking a massive hit due to this COVID-19 Virus. According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security(IDES), there as been a major spike in unemployment claims. So far in March there have been 133,763 total claims, as opposed to 27,493 in March of last year.

In his daily press conference on Thursday, Governor JB Pritzker gave figures that show while this is happening in Illinois, it’s also a national trend as businesses try to contend with the stay at home orders.

While unemployment and layoffs are the main component, they are not the only struggle. Governor Pritzker said many Americans are seeing hour reductions as well.

According to IDES the Illinois unemployment rate for February was 3.4 percent, which was lower than the national unemployment rate for the second straight month. More information can be found by visiting the IDES website.