The city of Galesburg, Knox County and five other western Illinois counties experienced a modest drop in unemployment rates last month compared to March.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security reports the April unemployment rate for Galesburg was 5.8 percent, down five-tenths of a percent. The rate for Knox County was 5.6 percent, also a decline of one-half of a percentage point. The monthly report from the state says the number of unemployed in Galesburg last month was 875, which is 73 fewer people without jobs than in March. Knox County had 1,458 unemployed residents in April, down 133 from the previous month.

The unemployment rates were also down between four-tenths and nine-tenths of a percent in Warren, Fulton, Henderson, Henry and McDonough counties. McDonough had the lowest rate of 3.8 percent, and Warren was the only other county with unemployment under 5 percent---checking in at 4.5 last month. The highest unemployment rate was the 5.7 percent recorded in Henderson County, where the percentage was 6.6 in March.

The unemployment rates in all but Henderson remain higher than a year ago. The rate was 5.8 in Henderson County in April of 2007. Meanwhile, the increases in the counties with higher rates this year ranged from one-tenth of a percent in McDonough to nine-tenths of a percent in Knox County.

State officials say total payroll jobs grew or remained stable in nine of the 12 metro areas in Illinois....including the Peoria and the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island metro areas. Officials also note that Illinois led all Midwestern states in over-the-year job growth for April.