Some good economic news for the state of Illinois. The statewide unemployment rate was down in March. March was the 23rd month in a row that the jobless rate fell dropping from 4.8% to 4.7%. Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) Director Kristin Richards says this indicates continued economic recovery and job growth especially over the past year. More that 18,000 jobs were added in the state last month. 9700 of those jobs were in the Professional and Business Services sector. Individual county jobless rates for Lawrence and others across the state are not yet available from the IDES.