The state of Illinois just released the unemployment figures for December. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) blames pressure from the national recession for higher jobless rates compared to December of 2008.  In all 12 metro areas, the jobless rate has risen for 31 consecutive months.

  In the Quad City metro area, which includes Scott County, Iowa and Rock Island, Henry and Mercer Counties, the unemployment rate was 9.2 percent. That is the highest December unemployment rate since 1985, when it was 10.1 percent. The Quad Cities lost a total of 3,700 jobs from 190,500 in December 2008 to 186,800 in December of 2009.

Here are the unemployment rates for counties included in the Quad Cities Metro area:

                                         Dec 09      Dec 08

     Rock Island County      10.5 %       6.7 %

     Henry County               10.2 %       7.6 %

     Mercer County              13.0 %       8.9 %

     Scott County, IA             7.3 %       4.6 %

                     

And here are the rates for cities within the metro area:

                                       Dec. 09       Dec. 08

     Rock Island                 11.5 %        7.0 %

     Moline                           9.6 %        6.3 %

     Galesburg                    10.8 %       7.4 %

                     

Other nearby Counties:

                     

      Bureau County            13.7 %       8.2 %

      Fulton County              13.3 %       7.7 %

      Henderson County       10.8 %      8.6 %

      Knox County                 10.8 %      7.2 %

      Stark County                 10.1 %     7.3 %

      Warren County               8.6 %      6.1 %

      Whiteside County          11.8 %     8.1 %

 

In the Quad City metro area, the IDES says declines in professional-business services and manufacturing continue to contribute to the overall employment loss compared to December 2008 levels. Retail trade, wholesale trade, and transportation-warehousing-utilities also experienced declines from last year.

Here are the unemployment rates for all Illinois metro areas:

                                                  Dec. 09       Dec. 08

          

          Bloomington-Normal              7.7%       5.3%

          Champaign-Urbana               8.5%       6.0%

          Chicago-Naperville-Joliet      10.6%      6.9%

          Danville                                 12.5%      9.4%

          Davenport-Moline-Rock Isl.     9.2%       6.0%

          Decatur                                 12.9%       7.8%

          Kankakee-Bradley                 14.3%      10.6%

          Lake-Kenosha, IL-WI            11.3%        8.0%

          Peoria                                   11.2%        6.2%

          Rockford                                16.0%      12.6%

          Springfield                               8.4%        6.2%

          St. Louis (IL-Section)             10.3%        8.1%

Not factoring in seasonal adjustments, the December, 2009, unemployment rate was 10.8 percent in Illinois and 9.7 percent for the nation. The unemployment rate identifies those who are out of work and looking for a job regardless if they are eligible for unemployment insurance.