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Economy

Unemployment and Employment Rise in the QC

Unemployment rose in the Quad Cities last month. The jobless rate here rose from 4.5 per cent in March of last year, to 4.9 per cent last month, but that's actually good news.

Tom Austin from the Illinois Department of Employment Security says unemployment began to drop last year.

"So as the unemployment rate dropped in the local area and more people started to feel more confident about the local economy, that does sometimes promote more people coming back into the labor force. And we are seeing a slight increase in the number of people unemployed as they re-enter the labor force seeking those employment opportunities."

So while 9,500 people in this area were officially considered unemployed in March, that is out of work and looking for jobs, the Quad Cities now has 1,300 more jobs than it did a year ago.

There were job gains in manufacturing, construction, and transportation and warehousing, but some losses in retail, government, and education and health services.

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.