WBGZ Radio 12/19/2020 | By Greg Bishop - Illinois Radio Network Unemployment claims declined in most states while initial benefit claims increased again in Illinois. The numbers of fraudulent claims affecting elected officials also increased. Unemployment continues to increase in Illinois, leading the nation in new filings. With 142,700 new filers last week, numbers from the U.S. Department of Labor released Thursday show Illinois was second only to California’s weekly claims. The Land of Lincoln had 35,000 more filers than the week before. That eclipses the total number of unemployment filings across the country, which reported 21,000 fewer new filers than the week before.