The October, 2009 unemployment numbers have been released and the Peoria Metro did rise slightly to 11.7% unemployment.  We do not feel this is reason for alarm, in fact we are rising at similar rates as many other regions across the country.

We have worked dilligently to diversify our economy over the past many years and this has been a tremendous asset to the region.  If we had not diversified, we would be in a much worse situation and would likely see unemployment numbers even higher than we did in the 1980's.
 
Furloughs and rolling layoffs continue to significantly contribute to these numbers.  Keep in mind if a person files for unemployment, regardless of if it is temporary, it is counted towards our unemployment rate.
 
Our typical base unemployment rate is around 5%. That means when we are in the best of times, we will have around 5% of our region out of work.  These folks include the chronically unemployed and those who are simply unemployable.  With that considered, we have 6.7% out of work right now which is not as bad as most other regions.  This 6.7% is who we need to focus on right now.  We need to do what we can to encourage these people to make the right choices so they can prepare themselves and are ready for the rebound.