The unemployment rate for Boone and Winnebago counties fell in September and October to 10.5 percent, according to data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The jobless rates in September and October of 2012 were 10.7 and 10.6 percent respectively. So the jobless rates this year were down year over year for the 39th and 40th time in the past 41 months.
Despite that positive trend, Thursday’s data release left little to cheer about. According to state estimates, in October there were just 144,468 people working in the Rock River Valley compared with 150,294 in October 2012.
The number of people actively looking for work declined from 17,837 last October to 16,983 this year. So the drop in jobless rate is from people dropping out of the work force for reasons ranging from Baby Boomers retiring, unemployed workers abandoning the job search or moving to areas where the economic recovery is stronger.
Read more by clicking on the following: Jobless rate down in Winnebago, Boone counties — but so is the number of workers - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL
