Illinois' unemployment rate is holding steady. It stayed at eight-point-seven percent last month, the same as it was in November. Still, about 76-thousand people were put out of work last month as temporary jobs ended. But, state officials say at least a third of those workers should have found work by now. The eight-point-seven percent rate is a one percentage point improvement over December, 2011, when the jobless rate was at nine-point-seven percent.
