Despite the fact that the area continued to lose jobs last month, the Chicago unemployment rate declined for the first time in 11 months.

During July, the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area saw its unemployment rate decrease from 11.3 percent to 10.7 percent, the same rate the area had during May. Even though this is the first time the local unemployment rate has declined since September 2008, it was still higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent, and the area continued to lose jobs.

The Chicago area had a total non-farm employment of 3,697,500 workers during July, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 3,715,500 workers during June and a 4.7 percent decrease from last year.

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Even though there are some signs of the economy beginning to rebound, many places throughout the country are still struggling. The City of Chicago is no exception. Even though the city has managed to add jobs on a month-to-month basis, the Chicago unemployment rate recently increased to more than 11 percent.

During June, Chicago saw its unemployment rate increase from 10.7 percent to 11.3 percent, which is higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.5 percent. The city hasn’t seen it’s unemployment rate decrease since October 2008, when it went from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent.

However, Chicago is faring better on a month-to-month basis. During June, Chicago had a total non-farm employment of 3,713,700 workers, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 3,700,500 workers during May, but a 4.7 percent decrease from last year.

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