Evanston’s unemployment rate in December fell to 6.6 percent from 7.1 percent in November, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security.
The figure, which was released Jan. 21, is the lowest since April 2009 and marks the fifth-straight month of decline in unemployment. However, the number of employed Evanston residents decreased for the first time in three months, falling to 39,840 from 39,945 in November.
The half-percentage point drop in the jobless rate was due to a decrease in the number of available workers to 42,652 from 42,987. Evanston’s labor force shrinks when workers retire, leave the city or stop seeking work.
Jonathan Perman, executive director of the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, cautioned against reading too much into the December figures, calling conclusions “meaningless” when the unemployment rate changes by a fraction of a percentage point.
Perman also said those numbers do not reflect hiring in Evanston because not all Evanston residents work in the city.
Of nine major communities in north Suburban Cook County, only Evanston, Glenview and Wilmette have reported a rise in private sector employment since the start of the recession in 2007, according to an IDES study.
Evanston’s annual average unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in 2010, up from 7.3 in 2009 and 4.7 in 2008. The unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.
For December, Chicago’s unemployment rate, at 9.5 percent, dipped below 10 percent for the first time since February 2009. Illinois’ unemployment rate is 9.3 percent.