Illinois unemployment numbers are up—after falling for 15 consecutive months. May numbers put Illinois at 8.9 percent unemployment, edging closer to the national rate of 9.1 percent.

Greg Rivara, communication manager for the Illinois Department of Employment Security, said the uptick is just a natural part of any economic recovery.

“We expected that it was going to occur, we did not know exactly when we would finally see it, it seems that, well, we finally saw it in May,” he said.

The number of unemployed people in Illinois increased by 9,800 from April, bringing the total to 585,000.

Despite the uptick, Rivara said the state has created 108,000 jobs since January of last year.