For the 9th consecutive month, the unemployment rate in Illinois dropped.
The jobless rate for May was at 8.6 percent. A year ago, the figure was at 9.7 percent.
The last time the rate was below 8.6 percent was February of 2009 when it was 8.5 percent.
Illinois' non-farm payroll employment also edged lower by 18 hundred jobs.
The state has added more than 136,300 private sector jobs since January of 2010.
Last month, the number of unemployed people in Illinois fell by 69 hundred to 564,400. It's the 9th consecutive month this number has declined.
