The Rockford metro area’s unemployment rate fell to 14.5 percent in August, snapping a two-month streak of increases and registering the largest year-to-year decline since 2006.
According to data released today by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the August rate was down 1.3 percentage points from July’s revised rate of 15.8 percent. The rate was down 1.6 percentage points from August 2009, the fourth month in a row for a yearly drop.
Here’s a look at some local rates:
Rockford city: 16.3 percent
Belvidere: 15.5 percent
Winnebago County: 14.6 percent
Boone County: 14.2 percent
On the employment side, local companies had about 200 fewer employees in August than they did in July, but 700 more than in August 2009. The biggest yearly gains were in professional and business services, educational and health services and manufacturing.
