Local unemployment rates in some counties appear to be heading in opposite directions.
Morgan County’s unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a percent from last month, down to 3.6% staying almost in line with national averages. Sangamon and Greene also saw declines from the previous month down to 3.6% and 3.9% respectively.
Brown County remains the best in the region for unemployment with 1.8%.
Scott County saw a full percentage point increase compared to last month up to 5.6%, while Cass, Pike, and Schuyler continue to hover around or just above 4%.
Overall, in the state, jobs were up over-the-year in all 14 major metropolitan areas. The Lake County-Kenosha, Wisconsin area in the far north and the Quad Cities saw job growth of nearly 3.5% or better in that time frame, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
Illinois continues to lag behind the national unemployment rate of 3.5% by a point and a quarter at 4.7%. Nationally, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate has remained relatively stagnant since March 2022.