Unemployment among Evanston residents fell last month as 218 more people found jobs than lost them.
The jobless rate fell from an adjusted level of 7.9 percent in August to 7.6 percent in September, according to new figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
Unemployment among Evanston residents fell last month as 218 more people found jobs than lost them.
The jobless rate fell from an adjusted level of 7.9 percent in August to 7.6 percent in September, according to new figures from the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
But 3,259 people were still looking for work out of a city workforce of 42,726.
The jobless rate here was 7.9 percent in September a year ago and was as high as 8.2 percent earlier this year.
Evanston’s jobless rate now is nearly two percent lower than the 9.4 percent rate for the Chicago metro area and the 9.5 percent rate for Illinois as as a whole.
But the city fell behind in the ranking of Illinois communities with the lowest levels of unemployment. Of nearly 100 communities with more than 25,000 residents, 20 had jobless rates better than Evanston’s in September compared to 15 in August.
They ranged from downstate college towns like Bloomington and Carbondale to a variety of Chicago suburbs. The lowest figures were in Northbrook, at 6.2 percent, and Wilmette, at 6.1 percent.