Unemployment in Illinois rose in October, and continued out pace the national rate, as the state's construction sector lost even more jobs.

Joblessness surged to 7.3 percent in October, from September's 6.9 percent reading, the Illinois Department of Employment Security reported.

Because the state's population is growing, Illinois must typically generate thousands of new jobs monthly just to absorb the growing labor pool and keep the unemployment from rising. But October marked the fifth consecutive month in which the number of jobholders fell.

State employment dropped by a substantial 11,700 from September.

Nationwide, unemployment surged to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October, according to Labor Department data. And with the US economy now sinking deeper into what is widely expected to be the worst recession in 25 years, many experts think the national jobless rate will exceed 8 percent in 2009.

With its large manufacturing, commercial and financial bases, Illinois's economy feels the impact of the negative factors that have been battering the national job market: slowing demand for manufactured goods, a punishing drop in residential construction,  tight credit markets, slowing export activity and weakening retail sales.

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