•February 1, 2017•

Moultrie County ended the year with the lowest unemployment rate of all surrounding counties at 4.6 percent.

In December 2015 Moultrie County was leading the area at 5.0 percent. The seasonally adjusted Illinois rate was 5.6 percent in December 2016 compared to 12.2 percent at the peak of the economic cycle in January 2010.

Unemployment rates fell in all surrounding counties with Vermilion County reporting a high of 7.2 percent unemployment in 2016 compared to 7.7 percent in 2015.

Douglas County was second lowest with 4.7 percent, improving by 0.8 percent from 5.5 percent in 2015.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.