After declining steadily for most of the year, unemployment rose in the Quad Cities last month, but not by much. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the jobless rate in November was 6.5 per cent - compared to 6.3 per cent at this time last year.
This area gained jobs in most sectors, including construction, professional and business services, education, transportation, and leisure and hospitality. But those gains were more than offset by job cuts in manufacturing, and a big loss of government jobs.
Unemployment rates ranged from 5.6 per cent in Scott County, to 6.8 in Mercer County, 7 per cent in Henry County, and 7.1 per cent in Rock Island County.
For Illinois in November, the Quad Cities had the lowest unemployment rate - at 6.5 per cent - while Decatur had the highest rate at 12.2 per cent.