The Illinois Department of Employment Security says unemployment fell in every Illinois metro area in February. It was the 12th straight month of across-the-board improvement.
The department says in its monthly report that while nine of the 14 tracked areas added jobs in February, the Peoria, Bloomington, Carbondale-Marion and Quad Cities areas all lost jobs.
However, the Bloomington area still posted the lowest unemployment rate in the state last month at 5 percent. The highest was the 7.3 percent rate in the Decatur area.
Chicago-area unemployment fell to 6.6 percent in February from 8.8 percent a year earlier.
The department reported earlier this month that February unemployment across the state fell to 6.1 percent while the national jobless rate was at 5.5 percent.