Most metro areas in Illinois saw unemplyment go down last month. But that doesn't tell the whole story.
12 of the 14 areas had numbers in August better than a year earlier. But the State Department of Employment Security says most of the job growth has taken place in the Chicago area.
Bob Gough is a spokesman for the agency.
"They are up over the year more than 4,600 jobs. But the statewide number is up only 3,700 plus jobs. That means the rest of the state is lagging behind," Gough said.
The state says the unemployment rate is down to 5.5 percent, but so is the labor force. Fewer people are actively looking for work. In some cases, they've been out of a job for so long they've given up.
The Quad Cities and Bloomington were the only areas to see rates go up. Bloomington took a hit in the past year with the closure of a Mitsubishi plant.
Springfield came in with the lowest unemployment at 4.6 percent. Danville the highest at 7.1 percent.
