While the Senate continues to debate whether or not to extend unemployment benefits, the dismal jobs numbers keep coming in. The state's unemployment rate jumped half of a percentage point between August and September to 10.5 percent, according to new data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Over 14,000 jobs were cut, marking the 20th consecutive monthly loss. As you can see in our latest graph, the unemployment rate was 6.7 percent just a year ago:

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To get a sense of the pain out there, just take a look at the personal stories being told in the comments section of our latest unemployment benefits post.