There are more than eight hundred thousand people living within a thirty-minute drive of Rockford, IL and more than half of those people are currently working in and around the city. If you are moving to the area and want a job working in healthcare or with commodity funds than you're going to need to know the current employment market and how you can fit into it. This will tell you if you have a good possibility of obtaining a job in Rockford or might need to expand your searching area to include the Greater Chicago Area, for instance. Here are some of the current employment stats for those living and working in Rockford.
Out of the over four hundred thousand people that are working or attempting to work in Rockford only half of them live within the county. This means that while you will be living in a smaller city you will be competing for that job in food and beverage marketing or within the school system with many other potential applicants. The top industry in the area is definitely manufacturing, which accounts for about a quarter of all of the jobs available in the region. This is twice the national average and could mean that if you have experience in repairs or with lumber banding machines, for instance, you will have a good chance of finding job opportunities in the area.
Healthcare and education are also important careers for those living in and around Rockford and account for five of the ten largest employers. The number one through three employers are Rockford Public Schools, Rockford Health System, and Swedish American Health System. Remember, there are many jobs within these organizations where you don't need training as a teacher or a medical professional. You could translate experience working with commercial mortgage solutions into working in payroll or could be employed in maintenance as an entry-level position. Also included in the top city employers are Wal-Mart Stores, Hamilton Sundstrand, Chrysler LLC, and the United Parcel Service.
The unemployment rate is one percent higher than the national average and is currently sitting at 10.6% but this is a growing community that has been seeing many new opportunities in the last few years. This is a diverse economy with industries working in aerospace technology, alternative energy, food processing, logistics, and metals manufacturing, among many other things. If you're experienced working in a factory making preform shrink bands or managing a store there's a good chance that you will find job postings that speak to your experience in Rockford.
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