That's how many years it's been since Illinois has experienced an unemployment rate of at least 8.6 percent, which is where it landed in February, according to figures released by the state Department of Employment Security.

Here's our updated graph showing the national and Illinois rate since the beginning of 2007:

The Tribune adds that the 0.8 percent jump between January and February "represents the largest one-month increase since IDES began keeping records in 1976."  Brutal.

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