The Relationship Between Educational Attainment and Labor Force Status in Illinois

(April 2025)

The monthly national labor force statistics released each month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) include a wide range of demographic and economic characteristics. However, until recently, labor force characteristics for Illinois and other states were only available on an annual basis. As part of our special topic series, the Illinois Department of Employment Security will be releasing more current labor force characteristics for Illinois using 12-month moving average estimates from the Current Population Survey (CPS) developed by the U.S. BLS.

One of the labor force characteristics that we will release each month is educational attainment level for the non-institutional population, 25 years of age and older. Educational attainment is collapsed into four categories including: less than a high school diploma; high school graduate, no college; some college or associate degree; and bachelor’s degree or higher.

The key findings from our analysis of educational attainment levels and labor force, employment and unemployment status are shown below, using 12-month moving average estimates starting in 2015 through March 2025. A report including the average estimates depicted in the charts below will be updated each month and found here​. In addition, you can find a glossary of terms and concepts used in the CPS here.

• Illinois residents with less than a high school diploma not only had the highest average unemployment rate among all educational attainment levels, but also saw the largest unemployment rate increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Illinois residents with less than a high school diploma saw their average unemployment rate increase from a low of 3.9 percent in March 2020 to a peak level of 11.9 percent in March 2021, tripling their unemployment rates. As of April 2024, the average unemployment rate for this educational attainment group had fallen below 6.0 percent but remained above pre-pandemic levels. As of March 2025, their unemployment rate has been steadily rising and was at 8.6 percent.
• Between March 2015 and August 2019, the unemployment rate for high school graduates with no college decreased from 7.2 percent to 4.2 percent. However, due to the pandemic, it spiked and peaked at 11.1 percent in March 2021. Since then, their unemployment rate has somewhat recovered—falling below 5.0 percent between November 2022 until August 2023. Since then, it has gradually increased and reached 5.7 percent in March 2025.
• At several points during the past decade, high school graduates with no college experienced unemployment rates higher than those with less than a high school diploma. Overall, however, their unemployment rates are typically lower than those with less than a high school diploma. As of March 2025, Illinoisians with less than a high school diploma had an unemployment rate of 8.6 percent while high school graduates had an unemployment rate of 5.7 percent, a difference of 2.9 points.
• Those with some college or associate degree saw their average unemployment rate increase from a low of 3.2 percent in March 2020 to a high of 10.0 percent in March 2021. It then dropped to nearly 4.4 percent in August 2022 and has remained relatively stable through March 2025. However, it has still not reached the low levels of unemployment seen pre-pandemic in March 2020.
• Illinois residents with bachelor’s degrees or more has consistently had the lowest levels of unemployment and was least affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher steadily decreased from 3.2 percent in March 2015 to 1.9 percent in March 2020. Yet, it spiked to 6.2 percent in March 2021 during the pandemic. The unemployment rate has for this group fell to 2.0 percent in May 2023 and rose to 2.5 percent by April 2024. As of March 2025, the unemployment rate for this group was 2.6 percent—slightly above its pre-pandemic level, but still the lowest across all education groups.

• Throughout the past decade, the average labor force participation rate for Illinois residents with less than a high school diploma hovered between 45 and 50 percent. During the pandemic, the labor force participation rate dropped to 44.0 percent in May 2021. The highest average labor force participation rate reported was after the pandemic at 52.9 percent in January 2024, but it has since decreased to 50.0 percent as of March 2025.

• The average labor force participation rate for high school graduates and no college, peaked at 58.8 in June 2019, fell to a low of 51.9 percent in September 2021 during the pandemic, and has since largely rebounded to 56.6 percent in March 2025.
• Among those with some college or an associate degree, the average labor force participation rate reached a high of 71.0 percent in October 2016 and then continued to decline through the pandemic to a low of 62.7 in March 2021. The average labor force participation rate then increased to 65.5 in December 2022, before declining and remaining below 65 percent.
• During the 2015-2025 time period, labor force participation rates among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher has remained relatively high and stable despite the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic. The average labor force participation rate for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher only dropped to 75.2 percent in September 2020, and then rose to a high of 77.2 percent in June 2022 and has remained over 76 percent through March 2025.

• Fewer than half of the Illinois residents with less than a high school diploma were employed during the past decade. Prior to the pandemic, the highest average employment-participation rate for those with less than a high school diploma was 47.7 percent in December 2019, and the lowest average employment-participation rate was 39.5 percent in March 2021. Their average employment-participation rate surpassed pre-pandemic levels by late 2023 before dropping to 45.7 percent as of March 2025.

• Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 55 percent of high school graduates with no college, were employed. The average employment-participation rate for this group rose to a high of 56.2 percent in July 2019 and dropped to a low of 46.8 percent in March 2021. It has since recovered to just above 53 percent but has not reached the heights prior to the pandemic.
• Since 2015, the average employment-participation rate for those with some college or associate degree has decreased over time. While it reached a high of 67.4 in October 2016, it has since decreased. In March 2021, it reached a low of 56.4 and has never recovered to pre-pandemic levels. As of March 2025, the employment-participation rate of this group was 60.9 percent.
• Consistently, those with a bachelor’s degree or higher were employed at higher rates and experienced the most stability in employment-participation rates over the past decade. Pre-pandemic, this group’s employment-participation rate rose from 73.6 percent in 2015 to 74.8 percent in December 2019. It then dropped to 70.7 percent in February 2021, but it has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and was at 74.5 percent as of March 2025.