On the surface it looks like a big improvement, but last month's drop in unemployment in the Quad Cities is not all good news. The rate fell from 7 per cent a year ago, to 5.8 per cent in March.
Tom Austin, from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, says there were job gains in retail, government, and leisure and hospitality, but they were offset by fewer jobs in manufacturing, finance, and professional and business services.
For the Illinois Quad Cities and surrounding counties in Illinois, department figures show an estimated 11,000 people were considered unemployed in March.
Unemployment here has been falling slowly but steadily since the beginning of the year - from 6.5 per cent in January, to 6 per cent in February, and 5.8 per cent in March.
Statewide in Illinois, it was the 13th month in a row that rates fell in every major metro area - including drops of more than 2 percentage points in several cities - Rockford, Peoria, and Kankakee - and 3 percentage points in Decatur and Danville.
