The Illinois Department of Employment Security says unemployment fell in every metro area in the state in April. It was the 14th consecutive month of decreases across the state's metro regions.
The Bloomington area had the lowest jobless rate last month at 3.9%, down from 4.9% a year earlier. Champaign-Urbana was a close second at 4.1%. That was down from 5.2%.
The Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights area saw its unemployment rate fall to 5.9% from 7.1% a year earlier.
The statewide rate for April reported earlier this month was 6%.
But the department noted that only eight of the 14 metro areas it tracks added jobs. Those that lost jobs included Peoria, Decatur and the Carbondale-Marion area.
