The Mercer County unemployment rate dips to 4.2 percent. The number is for November and represents nearly a full percent improvement from the same period a year ago. Unemployment is also down from year over year levels in Knox, Warren, Henderson, Rock Island and Henry Counties mainly due to employment gains in the Professional-Business Services, Educational-Health Services, and Manufacturing and Construction sectors. Statewide the unemployment rate is 4.7 percent says Bob Gough with the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The national unemployment rate is 3.9 percent. The highest unemployment rate in the region is 5.7 percent in Fulton County.