The Knox County Unemployment rate was 6.1 percent for the month of November. That was the 10th worst among Illinois’ 102 counties. Warren County was at 4.4 percent, in the middle of the pack for Illinois counties. Before the pandemic, Warren regularly was near the top 10 for unemployment in the state. Galesburg alone has a 6.7 percent unemployment rate, similar to Freeport, Alton and Springfield. Quincy and Edwardsville are the cities with the best rates, while Chicago-area municipalities Harvey and Maywood are at the bottom. Over 1,700 claims were filed for unemployment insurance in Knox County in October and November, which is more than the county’s total for all of 2019. Before December is counted, there have over 4 times as many claims in 2020. Cook County tops the list for unemployment at 7.7 percent, along with one of the state’s small counties; Pulaski. Denser populations during a pandemic and tight restrictions have been hard for employers to overcome in Illinois metro areas, but more chronic challenges cause rural areas economic problems. Also, the unemployment rate for October was adjusted up from what was reported in preliminary numbers. The October rate was actually 6.2 instead of 5.6.
