Unemployment went down locally from April to May. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the rates for LaSalle County were 18.4% in April and 15.6% in May. Bureau County’s dropped from 13.7% to 11.6%. Putnam County’s had the most local improvement going from 16.7% to 12.3%. Grundy County rates were 17.0% in April and 13.8% in May. The combined rated for LaSalle, Bureau, and Putnam counties dropped from 17.3% to 14.5%.
In May last year, the rates were 4.1% for all three counties and 4.3% for LaSalle County alone. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says that year-to-year loss is 4,175 jobs on non-farm payrolls in the three counties combined.