Jobless rate in Chicago area falls to 9 percent in April
-- Sun-Times May 25, 2012 10:06AM
Updated: May 25, 2012 10:08AM
The unemployment rate in the Chicago area fell to 9 percent in April from 9.5 percent a year earlier, according to a report released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security Thursday.
The rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, was unchanged from March.
The Chicago area added 36,100 jobs since April 2011, down from 42,300 added year-over-year in March.
The unemployment rate fell year-over-year in 11 metropolitan areas and edged up in one.
“Local economies throughout the state continue a pattern of economic growth fueled by job creation,” IDES Director Jay Rowell said in a statement. “We expect that overall improvement to continue even though monthly economic progress could remain uneven.”
The only area to show a rise in the unemployment was the Illinois section of the St. Louis metropolitan area, which inched up to 8.4 percent from 8.3 percent. The area lost 6,100 jobs since April 2011, the biggest loss in the state.
The highest unemployment rates in the state were in Rockford at 10.7 percent, down from 12.1 percent; and the Kankakee-Bradley area at 10.5 percent, down from 11. 8 percent.
The lowest rates in the state were in the Bloomington-Normal area at 6.2 percent, down from 6.3 percent and the Springfield area at 6.7 percent, down from 6.9 percent.
Behind the Chicago area, the biggest job increases since April 2011 were in the Peoria area with 5,200 jobs added; and the Rockford area with 3,300 jobs added.
Job losses also were reported in the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island area, down 2,800; the Champaign-Urbana area, down 2,200; the Bloomington-Normal area down 1,300; and the Springfield area, down 800.
