Unemployment rates dropped in for 11 of Illinois' 12 metro areas.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security on Thursday reported that Decatur is the only metro area to see an increase in the unemployment rate for the month. Decatur's rate stood at 10.2 percent last month, compared to 9.8 percent in November 2011.
"What it shows us is that the recession was deep and broad, just like we thought it was," IDES spokesperson Greg Rivara said. "And, it shows us that the economy continues to improve, albeit not at the pace that anyone is satisfied with."
The areas seeing the largest decline were Rockford, Chicago-Joliet-Naperville and Kankakee-Bradley. Rockford dropped 1.3 percentage points to 10.5 percent last month. The Chicago region dropped 1.2 points to 8.3 percent, while Kankakee-Bradley fell 1.1 points to 10 percent.
However, the drop in unemployment could come with a dark side. Rivara said federal aide to the state might be cut because of the falling unemployment, and that could lead to layoffs with the IDES.
(Information from The Associated Press was used in this article. Copyright 2012, all rights reserved.)
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