State Stix

The final statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in August was 11.8 percent. Final seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for the state's Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) in June were: Bloomington-Normal, 9.1 percent; Champaign-Urbana-Rantoul, 7.8 percent; Chicago, 10.9 percent; Davenport-Rock Island-Moline (Illinois sector), 15.2 percent; Decatur, 16.1 percent; Kankakee, 17.1 percent; Peoria, 16.1 percent; Rockford, 19.3 percent; Springfield, 7.4 percent; East St. Louis (Illinois sector), 12.2 percent.

In the past, we have referred to SMSAs as "the state's major cities." The term is inaccurate; SMSAs cover a larger area. In the case of Rockford, the difference in the jobless rate is significant. The June unemployment rate for the SMSA was 19.3 percent; for the city of Rockford, it was 24.3 percent. In most of the other cities, the unemployment rate was slightly higher than in the SMSA; the differences ranged from a 1.7 percent higher rate in the city of Peoria to a 3.5 percent lower rate in Normal.