By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
New U.S. Bureau of Labor data shows Illinois’ unemployment rate in July was the 3rd-worst in the country. Last month Illinois had the nation’s 5th-worst rate.
Illinois’ worsening ranking came despite a slight improvement in its jobless rate to 4.4%, down from 4.5% in June. The ranking change came as Delaware and Nevada had larger improvements in their unemployment rate in July than Illinois did.
Count on the state’s political leadership to take credit for Illinois’ overall low unemployment rate, but what people should really know is what a laggard Illinois really is nationally and regionally when it comes to creating jobs.
Take a look at the unemployment rates in Illinois’ neighboring states. They are significantly below those in Illinois, most notably in Indiana, Missouri and Iowa, where unemployment rates are nearly 2 percentage points lower.
Don’t think it’s a big deal? That nearly 2 percent difference means 120,000 Illinoisans are out of jobs today. Catching up with states like Indiana and Missouri would be the equivalent of putting an entire city like Springfield back to work.
Blame the difference on Illinois’ many failed policies, from failing to deal with rising crime to ignoring the nation’s biggest pension debts to papering over the state’s financial problems to letting public unions dominate state policy to fostering rampant corruption.
Until those policy failures are finally addressed, expect Illinoisans to continue to leave.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Chicago crime statistics: Even worse than you think
- Illinois’ ‘good times’ are coming to an end as economy, stock market unwind
- Credit the near $200 billion federal bailout, not Pritzker’s actions, for Illinois’ “improved” 2023 budget
- Illinois lawmakers want to cement union powers into the state constitution
- The sickening laundry list of corruption cases in Illinois continues to grow
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
You need two things to lower the unemployment rate. Businesses need to stay, start or move to Illinois and people have to be motivated to work. Pritzker has been a failure in providing a suitable environment for business. He simply makes it difficult for businesses to exist for the many reasons discussed on this forum daily. As for motivated workers, Illinois leads the league in free handouts, and Pritzker is forever telling Illinois residents it’s not their fault. The unemployment rate is a true comparable indicator of a state’s economic health, and Illinois fails miserably. It will continue to do… Read more »
Democrats paid people not to work — now they’re surprised that they prefer welfare to a paycheck
Dead right! The intelligent are leaving the rathole known as Illinois, taking their considerable talents to far better states. IL is not only losing people, but losing the very people that could take IL in the opposite direction from which it is aimed. Gov. Jelly Belly is just pathetic.