The Mercer County unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent. The number is for April and represents a 1.4 percent improvement from the same period a year ago. Year over year unemployment levels are also lower in Henderson, Henry, Knox, Warren and Rock Island Counties mainly due to employment gains in the Educational-Health Services sector. Statewide, the unemployment rate is at 4.4 percent for April, according to Bob Gough with the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The national unemployment rate is at 4.1 percent. The highest unemployment rate in the region is 6-percent in Fulton and Stark Counties.