Local Unemployment Rates Mostly Stagnant in West Central Illinois

By Benjamin Cox on June 27, 2022 at 11:35am

Local unemployment rates remained relatively the same over the month. IDES reported Friday that the unemployment rate decreased in eleven Illinois metropolitan areas, increased in one and was unchanged in another last month.

Chicago, Rockford, and Bloomington continue to see the largest increase in jobs over the year. Springfield’s metropolitan area saw 4-tenths of a percentage point drop. Kankakee saw a slight increase in unemployment, while the rate stayed flat in Danville and Decatur.

Morgan and Scott county remained at 4.5% unemployment for the month of May, which is relative to the rest of West Central Illinois. Brown County remains the lowest in the region at 2.5%. Local unemployment rates have actually rose by almost a full percentage point since the beginning of the year.