A series of occupational licensing reform bills making their way out of the General Assembly would help more Illinoisans enter the workforce.

Seven metro areas across the state lost jobs over the month.

Illinois’ metro areas added 11,300 jobs in February, while only one metro area lost jobs over the month. Despite strong employment growth from metro areas in February, Illinois is still far behind U.S. growth over the last 12 months.

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area witnessed population decline over the year, as did nearly every other metro area in Illinois.

Combined jobs growth was slightly positive across Illinois’ metro areas in January. But only four metro areas have recovered the jobs they lost during the Great Recession.