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Economy

QC Unemployment Fell Again in September

Google Data Explorer, US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Comparing recent unemployment rates - QC (blue), Illinois (red), Peoria (yellow), and Rockford (green)

Unemployment continued to fall in the Quad Cities in September. It dropped more than one full percentage point - from 5.5 per cent a year ago to 4.3 per cent last month. 

Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says we gained jobs in construction, and the category of education and health services, mainly due to more health-related jobs. But the Quad Cities lost jobs in manufacturing, and in leisure and hospitality. 

"We also saw declines in retail trade. We've been seeing that, not just in the Quad Cities area, but other areas, as retail trade as an industry starts to go through some changes based on competition from online retailers."

The September unemployment rate of 4.3 per cent translates into 8,000 people - out of work and looking for a job. 

The unemployment rate fell in all 14 major metro areas in Illinois, and in all 102 counties. Rates ranged from a low of 3.6 per cent in Bloomington, to 5.1 per cent in Decatur. 

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.