Davenport-Moline-Rock Island
at the margin.

## Labor Market Conditions — Davenport-Moline-Rock Island

The Quad Cities labor market is in equilibrium, but the balance is tilting slightly in the wrong direction. Employment contracted by roughly 0.8% over the past year through December 2024, a modest but real decline, while momentum is holding steady rather than reversing course. The market is not in freefall, but it is not growing either.

Behind that contraction, the unemployment picture adds some texture. The unemployment rate — which sits in the mid-single digits — rose about 8.5% on a year-over-year basis through December 2024, meaning more workers are actively searching without finding. That combination of shrinking employment and a rising unemployment rate points to demand-side softness: employers are pulling back at the margin, and the people let go are not being quickly absorbed elsewhere in the regional economy.