Metro unemployment down - For the second month in a row, unemployment rates in all of Illinois’ metropolitan regions have fallen. “The unemployment rate has been below previous year levels in all metro areas for 10 of the last 11 months… In fact, three metro areas saw their lowest unemployment rate on record for April,” . Illinois Department of Employment Security Director Jeff Mays said. The data are from a newly released set produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most regional year-over-year numbers are still down, but Illinois’ overall state gain for non-farm jobs is currently 48,300. [Release]