Data by the Illinois Department of Employment Services found the jobless rate to have remained unchanged in Chicago over the last year, but it has decreased in other areas of the state. 

The unemployment rate the Chicago-Joliet-Naperville area was 10.5 percent in June, like it was at the same time last year. That figure fell in several other towns in the state, with the largest decreases in unemployment being seen in Rockford, Danville, Kankakee-Bradley, and Peoria. The number of total payroll jobs went up in six metro areas, fell in five and stayed the same in another. Overall, the state has gained 72,000 jobs since January of this year.