Bloomington-Normal leads Illinois in job growth over the last year.
The area's workforce grew by 5.4%. That's the highest among all 14 metro areas in the state, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Rockford saw the second-best improvement at 5.2%.
The Bloomington-Normal market area reported 94,200 nonfarm payroll jobs in April. That's up 4,800 from April 2021. The largest payroll gains were in professional and business services (+1,700), leisure and hospitality (+1,300) and government (+1,100).
Financial activities showed a net job loss of 700.
It appears a bulk of the new jobs added in Bloomington-Normal is tied to Rivian's plant in Normal as the electric automaker has starting producing vehicles.
The Twin City jobless rate is 3.8%. That's down from 4.6% in April of last year. Illinois’ lowest rate was in the Davenport (Iowa)-Moline-Rock Island Market at 3.7%. Decatur has the highest rate at 7%.
Illinois’ unemployment rate is 4.4%.
