Unemployment fell in the Quad Cities in February. It dropped from 4.8 per cent a year ago to 4 per cent in February.
Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says overall the number of jobs in this area fell by 600.
"Most of the declines were in manufacturing, and professional and business services. But we did see gains when we look at education and health services, as well as the construction industry."
The last time the Quad Cities February rate was this low or lower was in 1998.
Austin says the big rise in unemployment applications that's occurred in recent days won't really show up in his figures until the May report. That's because the recent surge in layoffs in March did not occur until after the survey week, which was the second week of the month.
The next survey will be done during the week of April 12th, and show up when the state issues its report the following month.
