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Ken, Springer of the Bloomington Normal EDC reports this morning that unemployment rates are mixed in April. Several communities showed improvement, however the question is, are we seeing a trend? Hard to say, but if these small improvements here in Illinois and elsewhere in the US keep happening what you will see will be continued improvements in consumer confidence, and that will be significant.

The April unemployment numbers are out, and Illinois metro areas seem to be mixed in their performance. Here are a list of metros in Illinois and their March to April unemployment rates:

Bloomington-Normal DOWN 6.3% to 5.9%
Champaign DOWN 6.9% to 6.2%
Chicago UP 9.4% to 9.8%
Decatur FLAT 9.8%
Peoria UP 8.9% to 9.2%
Rockford DOWN 13.5% to 12.1%
Springfield DOWN 6.8% to 6.0%

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

How are you doing? Laying off or adding on?