The Rockford area unemployment rate is down. The Illinois Department of Employment Security says the November jobless rate in Winnebago and Boone Counties stood at 10-and-a-half percent. That's down from 11.8 percent in November of 2011. State Department of Employment officials say there was hiring in the area last month in manufacturiing. Retail trade reported the most significant decline from November of last year. Unemployment in the City of Rockford fell to 12.1 percent last month. That's down from 13.7 percent in November of 2011.