The city of Chicago’s unemployment rate dropped to 6.2 percent in July from 6.9 percent a year before, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The midsummer unemployment rate was down in most municipalities and metro areas in Illinois compared with last summer, according to the data, which are not seasonally adjusted — the figures do not take into account seasonal swings in job demand and cannot be compared month-to-month.
The Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro area on the Iowa border, also known as the Quad Cities, was an exception to the job gains: It saw its unemployment rate rise to 5.4 percent from 5.2 percent. It also lost 4,200 jobs over the year, the most among the metro areas in the state.
Job losses were concentrated downstate. The Peoria, Bloomington and Carbondale-Marion metro areas also lost jobs.
Most of the job gains occurred in the northeast corner of the state. The Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights metro area added 44,900 over the year, mostly in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services and construction. Manufacturing, wholesale trade and financial activities posted job declines.
The Elgin metro area, where the unemployment rate dropped to 5.1 percent, and the Lake County-Kenosha County metro area on the Wisconsin border, where unemployment fell to 4.8 percent, also posted sizable job gains.
Among cities with more than 100,000 people, Naperville had the lowest July unemployment rate at 4.7 percent, which is lower than the national average. Joliet had the highest, at 6.8 percent, though that is a big drop from 7.6 percent last year.
aelejalderuiz@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @alexiaer
