Illinois officials say the state’s unemployment rate fell .5 percentage points to 4.9 percent in March.
The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported that the jobless level is now below 5 percent for the first time in a decade. But Illinois’ unemployment rate is still higher than the national unemployment rate for March, which dropped to 4.5 percent. The sectors with the largest employment gains were leisure and hospitality; trade, transportation and utilities and other services.