Good news from the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s September jobs report: Illinois has seen a 2.5 percent drop in unemployment over the past year. That’s the largest year-to-year job growth in the nation, down by nearly one-third.

Between August and September, our state added 19,000 jobs – the second-highest state gain that month. Illinois also continued to grow new jobs in areas that are likely to sustain growth in the future, as the biggest gains were in professional and business services.

The current Illinois unemployment rate is 6.6 percent, down from 9.1 percent just one year ago.