According to the News-Gazette, which serves East Central Illinois, the unemployment rates decreased in the month of September for East Central Illinois.  This dip was not only in comparison to August but from 2011 as well, which makes for excellent news in the area for those still looking for jobs or who are thinking or re-entering the workforce.

Champaign County’s unemployment rate in August was 8.9 percent.  It fell to 7.8 in September. Vermillion County was at 11 percent in August. It trended downward to 10 percent in September.

East Central Illinois’ nine other counties found their unemployment rates had ebbed as well in correspondence with data released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

Coles County’s unemployment number was a 9.9 percent in August.  It was cut to 8.7 percent for September. DeWitt County’s figure was 8.1 percent at the end of summer.  It reduced to 7.6 for September. Douglas County’s unemployment dropped a full point from 8.4 percent in August to 7.4 in September.

Edgar County was the third highest in August at 9.7.  It was slashed to 9.1 in September. Ford County saw the biggest dropoff.  From 9 percent in August, it shrunk to 7.7 in September. Iroquois County waned from 8.4 in August to 7.6 in September. McLean County’s number in August was 7.3 and went to 6.7 in September.

Moultrie County’s 7.6 in August plunged to 6.8 percent in September. Finally, Piatt County dropped from the 8 percentile to a mark of 6.9. The numbers do not get adjusted in regards to the season, so August and September’s figures cannot truly be compared. However, the rates for the month of September in each county were tinier than they had been from 2011.

One problem with this is that while unemployed people have dipped, so has the number of people who hold jobs. In September, 7,841 Champaign County residents were not employed as compared to the 92,957 that did have jobs. The number of people with jobs has been down each of the past few Septembers.  93,189 held jobs in 2011; 96,151 were employed in 2010; and 96,741 worked in 2009.

Vermilion County also saw similar trends.  3,565 people were jobless in September while 31,988 worked. The number of residents with jobs was 32,518 in September 2011; 32,940 in September 2010; and 32,662 in September 2009. In terms of cities, Champaign held the lowest unemployment rate at 8 percent, which slowed from August’s 9.1 percent. Urbana’s is at 9.1, down from 10.3.  Danville’s 10.7 percent is a vast improvement from 12.1 percent.

Among other Illinois counties, Brown County held the lowest mark, 4.5 percent, with Adams (6 percent) and Woodford and Jo Daviess (6.1 percent) not too far behind. Montgomery County had the top rank at 11.4 percent.