Bradley University’s third quarter checkup on the Peoria area economy shows continued positive performance with unemployment rates remaining low at 4.8 percent. That’s down nearly half a percent from this time last year.
The report covers parts of Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford, Stark, and Marshall counties.
Bernard Goitein, who helps develop the quarterly report, said he and his colleagues at Bradley's Foster College of Business use over 30 business and economic indicators in determining the index.
“We try to see what kind of overall picture they make, and overall we’re still seeing positive performance when we put together that performance index,” Goitein said.
He said the steady low unemployment rate is a result of an increase in the number of people working, and a decrease in the number of new unemployment claims filed.
The New Unemployment Claims Index is down 21.1 percent from this time last year.
Specifically, construction jobs in the Peoria-Pekin area are up nearly 1 percent over last quarter, after adjusting for seasonality.
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