Evanston’s jobless rate fell by more than a full percentage point last month, in line with declines across the metro area and state.
The Evanston jobless rate was 6.1% in July, down from 7.3% in June and from 10.6% a year ago.
The state jobless rate was 7.0% last month and it was 7.5% for the Chicago metro area.
However the size of Evanston’s labor force — the number of people working or looking for work contracted last month, falling by 391 people, from 37,832 in June to 37,441 in July. But the number of people looking for work fell more, by 483, from 2,760 to 2,277.
That means 92 more Evanstonians were reported to have jobs in July than in June.
Skokie’s jobless rate in July was 7.0%, down from 8.7% in June. Wilmette’s rate was 4.9% in July, down from 5.7% in June.