Mercer County unemployment continues to stay below year ago levels. The latest numbers from the Illinois Department of Employment Security show the local jobless rate at 8.0 percent for December, which is 1.6 percent lower than last year at this time. Unemployment is also down compared to a year ago in Warren, Henderson, Henry and Rock Island Counties and the same in Knox County. In the region, employment gains were made in the government, leisure-hospitality and transportation-warehousing-utilities sectors. Statewide, the unemployment rate is 8.6 percent and nationally it’s 7.6 percent. The highest unemployment rate in Western Illinois is in Stark County at 9.7 percent.