Unemployment in the Quad Cities fell again in July - from 5.3 per cent a year ago to 4.4 per cent last month - a drop of nearly one full percentage point.
Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says job gains in the construction and financial sectors were more than offset by some losses.
"We see most of those declines are still in the manufacturing sector but retail trade has also seen some losses as well as leisure and hospitality when we're looking at over the year changes."
The July unemployment rate of 4.4 per cent tranlates into about 84-hundred people out of work AND looking for jobs. It was also the lowest July rate since 2007 when local unemployment fell to 4 per cent.
Rates fell in all 14 of Illinois' major metro areas, and in every county in the state except two.
