Jobless rate still dropping Scott Cousins, scousins@thetelegraph.com FacebookTwitterEmail Fuhrmann WOOD RIVER — Unemployment rates for the Metro East showed a slight decrease between March and April, and were significantly down from the same time last year when the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic was starting to be felt. According to the latest data from the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the April unemployment rate for the St. Louis MSA — which includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties — dropped to 5.3 percent from 5.6 percent the previous month. The state rate remained at 7.1 percent, after dropping from 7.8 percent between February and March.