Nearly 6,000 people were out of work in Bloomington-Normal in January and looking for a job.
The state Department of Employment Security reported unemployment rates increased in most major metro areas in the state including the Twin Cities.
Bloomington-Normal's jobless rate went from 5.9 percent in January of last year to 6.1 percent this January.
Springfield and Champaign-Urbana added jobs compared to a year ago. The number of people employed in Bloomington-Normal dropped by 2,200.
Over the year, the government sector accounted for most of the decline in the Twin City labor force. Manufacturing and leisure and hospitality also contracted. Sectors gaining jobs in the Twin Cities were education and health services, construction, and financial activities.
Peoria's unemployment rate rose in January by more than half a point to 8.3 percent. There were an estimated 15,200 unemployed people in the Peoria area labor force in January 2017.
The department reported that the not seasonally adjusted Illinois rate was 6.5 percent in January 2017 and stood at 12.2 percent at its peak in this economic cycle in January 2010. Nationally, the not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in January 2017 and 10.6 percent in January 2010 at its peak.
