In November, the jobless rate was 3.7 percent, compared to 3.5 percent in November 2022.
There were roughly 2,400 job losses in professional business services over the year. Information, construction, and manufacturing also recorded employment declines.
Government and leisure-hospitality were the sectors with the most growth. Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says the latter has seen consistent growth throughout Illinois.
"Individuals are feeling more comfortable going back out to restaurants, travelling more," he said.
"If we look at the national news, record numbers of people travelling, so that's reflected not only in the Quad Cities area, but in other areas as well as that area has continued to add employment."
Overall, Austin says, despite the small increase in umployment, the numbers also show more people employed this year.
"The Quad City area, with its mix of employment, has typically been either in the middle or in the lower end when we look at unemployment for all metro areas."
"The mix of employment within that metro area is pretty good, so as one industry may have increases, it offsets declines that we see in other industries that typically happen over the year."
The unemployment rate reflects the amount of people out of work, who are looking for a job.
