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Government

Unemployment Fell in January

Although it's probably changed a lot since then, the new year started off well for jobs and employment in the Quad Cities. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says our unemployment rate in January fell to 4.7 per cent, from 5.4 per cent in the same month a year ago.

Spokesman Tom Austin says the last time the January rate was this low, or lower, was in 1998 when it was four per cent.

"We did see a decrease - most of that decrease took place in the manufacturing sector as well as professional and business services. We did see increases in employment in the education and health services sector, as well as leisure and hospitality, and financial activities - when we went from January 2019 to January 2020.

Overall, the number of people working in the Quad Cities area fell by 600 during the past year.

Austin says Employment Security offices in Illinois are closed to in-person visits, but many services are available by phone and through its website, including applying for unemployment benefits. 

This is the link to the IDES website where people can file an unemployment insurance claim and certify for their benefits. https://www2.illinois.gov/ides/Pages/default.aspx

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.