(The Center Square) – Job cuts and unemployment rates are going up in Illinois, while workers’ wage growth is slowing.

According to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, reports, 1,169 Illinois workers were laid off in July. It marked the third straight month the number of layoffs has increased.

Economist and Everyday Economics podcast host Orphe Divounguy said, aside from the pandemic job loss, the nation’s unemployment rate is now higher than it’s been since February 2018, barring pandemic months.

“Hiring continued to slow, employment increased less than expected. Basically, I think recession fears are starting to creep up,” Divounguy said.

Divounguy added that wages are not going up like they once did.

“Wage growth has slowed to 3.6% year over year, down from 3.9% in June,” Divounguy said.

Divounguy said he expects the Fed to shift its focus from inflation to the labor market.

Illinois had 7,300 layoffs reported from January through July of this year. According to WARN numbers from reporting states, Illinois had more layoffs than Florida (7,198), but fewer than California (37,100), Texas (14,441), New York (11,086) and Washington (8,250).

Four Illinois companies reported 100 or more layoffs last month: John Deere in Moline, GEODIS in Romeoville, NBC Universal/NBC Sports Chicago and Keplr Vision of Bloomington.

Divounguy said the U.S. economy is getting closer to recession territory.

“If initial jobless claims remain at this level or tick higher, then some analysts might start to be concerned,” Divounguy said.

Also in July, the Democratic National Convention Committee reported 75 layoffs beginning on Sept. 6, following the DNC in Chicago.

Western Illinois University Board of Trustees Chair Carin Stutz explained the board’s approval of an unspecified number of job cuts.

“In the past, the university has been able to tap into restricted funds to bridge gaps in revenue, but those funds have now been exhausted,” Stutz said.

The decision announced Tuesday comes in addition to 36 layoffs at WIU last June.