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Economy

QC Unemployment Declined in November

WVIK, Quad Cities NPR | By Herb Trix
Published December 23, 2021 at 2:26 PM CST

Unemployment has continued to fall in the Quad Cities - from 5.3 per cent in November of last year, to 3.7 per cent last month. The decline was the 8th in a row.

Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says the Quad Cities metro area gained 2,300 jobs over the past year.

"With increases in industry sectors such as government, construction, leisure and hospitality, and transportation and warehousing. From a year ago we did see declines in industries such as manfacturing, information, and financial activities."

In past years there would have been additional hiring for retail jobs leading up to Christmas - Austin says there was an increase in this sector this fall in the Quad Cities, but it still added up to no change compared to this time a year ago.

Unemployment rates fell in all 14 major, metro areas in Illinois during November, and it was the 8th decline in a row for all 14.
Economy
Herb Trix
A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois. While a graduate student in the Public Affairs Reporting Program at the University of Illinois at Springfield (then known as Sangamon State University), he got his first taste of public radio, covering Illinois state government for WUIS. Here in the Quad Cities, Herb worked for WHBF Radio before coming to WVIK in 1987. Herb also produces the weekly public affairs feature Midwest Week – covering the news behind the news by interviewing reporters about the stories they cover.
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