Unemployment held steady in the Quad Cities last month at 3.9 per cent - the same as in September of last year. And it was just one-tenth of one per cent higher than in August.
Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says while there was new hiring in construction, manufacturing, and transportation, it was all nearly offset by losses in retail and education.
But the losses in education may just be temporary.
"And that does vary from year to year depending on when schools come back and how that affects the survey during that month. While we did see a decrease in the number of people in that industry over the year, some of that can be attributed to when the schools came back."
The number of people working in the Quad Cities grew in September, but the number considered unemployed also grew - Austin says the strong economy here encouraged people without jobs to start looking for work again, and by looking for work then they're officially counted as unemployed.
