DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – A report claims Decatur is seeing its lowest unemployment numbers in decades.
The Economic Development Corporation of Decatur and Macon County released numbers comparing unemployment and jobs from April of 2017 to April of 2018. In that year, its numbers show the unemployment rate dropped from 4.8 percent to 4.4 percent.
The 4.4 percent number means about 2,161 people in Decatur are unemployed. The EDC estimates the number of people without jobs is the lowest the city has seen since January of 1990, when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics first made data available.
The percentage is the lowest since Nov. 2006.
The EDC also says the city saw available jobs grow by 600 and the number of people employed grow by 800 in the last year.
EDC President Ryan McCrady says the job growth trend is big news for Decatur.
“What that shows us is that we have people from Decatur securing a lot of these jobs,” McCrady said. “We know eventually that jobs always drive population and population drivers other growth. This is a very positive sign.”
McCrady says a high number of job opportunities are available. He pointed out that manufacturing businesses are hiring at a fast rate, adding that training is available for those jobs at places like Workforce Investment Solutions. Training is also available for people who want to get into healthcare jobs.
