Unemployment dropped in the Quad Cities last month, from 5.7 per cent a year ago to 5 per cent in April. But despite the decline, the news is not all good.
Tom Austin, from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, says the number of people considered unemployed fell in April compared to last year, but our area also experienced a drop in the number of people employed.
Jobs were lost here in manufacturing, education, health care, and wholesale trade, but the Quad Cities gained jobs last month in retail, government, construction, and leisure and hospitality.
Unemployment rates fell in all fourteen major metropolitan areas of Illinois in April, with the lowest in Bloomington and Normal at 3.9 per cent, and the highest at 5.9 per cent in Decatur and Chicago.
