Unemployment Rates in Region See Slight Decline

By Benjamin Cox on February 5, 2025 at 5:26am

One county in the region saw a large uptick in unemployment over the month of December, according to statistics released on Friday by the Illinois Department of Labor.

Scott County is just under 6% unemployment, that’s nearly 2 points higher than surrounding counties over that month. Morgan, Macoupin, Greene, Sangamon all recorded under 4% unemployment rates, while Cass and Pike currently sit at 4.1%. Brown County is the best in the region at 2% unemployment. Over-the-year decreases in unemployment were recorded in most all West Central Illinois counties.

Over-the-year, the unemployment rate decreased in nine areas, increased in three and was unchanged in two according to metropolitan area statistics for the state.

The metro areas which had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in total nonfarm jobs were all in Central and Southern Illinois – Champaign-Urbana, Carbondale, and Springfield.

Private Education and Health services was the job sector that saw the biggest gains.