McLean County's unemployment rate dropped to 4.5% in September, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. That's the lowest of any metro area in Illinois.
The unemployment rate was 5% in August.
Still, the area's jobless rate increased over the last year (from 3.2% in September 2022), a sign that more people are looking for work.
The Bloomington-Normal area labor market (which includes McLean and DeWitt counties) added 1,600 jobs in the last year, according to state data released Thursday.
The biggest gains were in Government (+900), Retail Trade (+500) and Manufacturing (+300).
The Mining-Construction sector lost about 200 jobs. Jobs losses also were reported in Information (-100) and Transportation-Warehousing-Utilities (-100).
The statewide unemployment rate fell to 4.9% last month.
Among metro areas, Rockford has the state’s highest unemployment at 6.9%.
