Unemployment dropped sharply in December, falling from 5.3 per cent a year ago to 4.2 per cent last month.
Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says the Quad Cities lost jobs in retail, leisure and hospitality, and government, but we gained jobs in education and health, construction, and even in manufacturing following many declines.
"Manufacturing had seen a downturn for quite a few months - it's a positive sign that we're seeing it up over the year. As well as when we look at the decline in professional and business services - it seems to have stemmed somewhat - it was unchanged over the year.
State figures show 78-hundred people were considered unemployed in the Quad Cities in December - about 400 more than in November.
And the last time December unemployment here was this low occurred in 2006 when it was 4 per cent.
