WASHINGTON: Slightly fewer people were seeking full-time employment last year in the Peoria Metro area as well as statewide. Generally that translates to a lower unemployment rate. But for last-year it only tells half the story. Peoria was one of three metro areas in the state that lost jobs. Carbondale-Marion lost more than 4% of its jobs, while Peoria lost 1.7% and Bloomington lost 1.2%. The Peoria Metro region however lost 3,000 jobs overall last year. That constitutes the biggest number of job losses in any metro area statewide. Rockford and Kankakee saw the largest increases in jobs, gaining 1.8% and 1.5% respectively. That means an additional 27,000 jobs in the Rockford metro territory.
The Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metro Division has the largest share of the state’s population and also added the biggest raw number of jobs, amounting to 22,700 positions. The Illinois Unemployment rate was higher than the national average in all 14 metro areas. That is to say, more people were seeking full-time employment in Illinois compared to the national average. Overall job growth in Illinois, while stronger, still lagged behind the national average.
