Knox County hit an unemployment rate in April rate higher than any point dating back to at least 1990, as far back as Illinois Department of Employment Security data goes.
Numbers released Friday from IDES show an unemployment rate of 14.6 percent almost 10 points higher than in April, and 9 points higher than the same month last year.
Some good news perhaps is that Knox’s rate was lower than the Illinois average and basically level with the national average.
This month last year the county was almost 2 points higher than the state average and 1 point higher than the nation.
Just Galesburg had 15.4 percent unemployment.
Some cities are in much worse shape; like Rockford with unemployment near 24 percent, Mount Vernon at 27 percent, and Belvidere over 27 percent
Most counties in West Central Illinois have lower unemployment than the state average.
In an ironic twist of fate it might be a function of a long shrinking job market in the region that was already lean and with a larger share of jobs considered essential, like utilities, transportation, manufacturing, and government work.
Warren County typically has slightly better unemployment than Knox and that held true, with Warren holding a 4.3 percent rate.
Warren unfortunately has lost about 9.8 percent of the labor force over the last year, that’s people employed or seeking work.
Knox County in the same 12 months lost 7.6 percent of its workers.
Unemployment claims also hit highs in March and again in April.
More Knox County residents filed claims for unemployment insurance in March and April than they did for the entirety of 2019.
