Unemployment dropped sharply in the Quad Cities in December.
Tom Austin, from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, says it fell from 6.9 per cent a year ago, to 6 per cent last month.
Despite the big decline, the Quad Cities ranked only in the middle of the 12 major metropolitan areas in IIllinois - unemployment rates were lower in December in Bloomington, Champaign, Chicago, Saint Louis, and Springfield.
And this was the 9th month in a row that the rates dropped in all 12.
In this area, unemployment ranged from 5.9 per cent in Scott County, to 6 per cent in Rock Island and Henry counties, and 7.2 per cent in Mercer County. Rates in Bureau and Fulton were even higher - at 7.4 per cent.