July’s unemployment rate in Kankakee County climbed up again. The number is at 6.1%....up from 5.7 in June. And the number was 4.7% , quite a bit lower than last year. The Unemployment Service reports Kankakee’s metro area lost 200 jobs over the past year.

Illinois’ highest unemployment is in Decatur 6.9%. The lowest rate is the Chicago area at 4 %.

Kankakee County has hopes of gaining up to 26-hundred jobs in the future. That’s if a Chinese company chooses Manteno has its first U.S. manufacturing site for an expansion. The un-named company has talked with Kankakee County Economic Alliance about the former K-Mart Distribution facility off I-57.

Alliance CEO Tim Nugent told the Kankakee County Board this week Manteno is among the Illinois sites being looked at by the company.  The County Board and other taxing districts have approved Resolutions to offer tax incentives to attract the company.

94.1 WGFA