Though the Illinois Department of Employment Security says Illinois added 3,000 jobs in March, the third consecutive month of growth, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate grew slightly to 11.5 percent last month -- up from 11.4 percent in February.  By comparison, the national rate was 9.7 percent in March and has held steady at that level since January.

Below is our updated graph comparing the Illinois and U.S. jobless rates: