By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics just released its finalized employment numbers for 2024 so we can now do a full review of job creation under Gov. J.B. Pritzker since 2019, the year he took office. Wirepoints compared the number of payroll jobs across all fifty states in both 2024 and 2019 (annual averages*), and for Illinois, the facts are damning.
Illinois had fewer private sector jobs over the period, losing 1,900 jobs. It was the nation’s 3rd-worst performance.
Compare that to the net new private sector jobs created in Texas: 1.2 million. Or Florida, up 930,000 jobs. Even California managed to create 520,000 net new private sector positions over the same period.
Illinois’ neighbors? Missouri had 71,800 more private sector jobs in 2024 than in 2019. Indiana was up by 95,600. Michigan, up 41,100. Kentucky has nearly 90,000 more. Iowa – a fourth the size of Illinois – gained 3,200 jobs.
Overall Growth
Illinois did manage to create overall job growth over the period, but only because of a growth in government jobs. Total local, state and federal government jobs were up by 11,500 compared to 2019.
Taking into account both private and government sectors, Illinois ranked as 11th-worst in total net job creation since 2019. In all, the state has created just 9,600 net new jobs since 2019.
Illinois’ job creation is anemic compared to its big-state peers. Aside from Illinois’ overall lack of growth, what’s notable about the other big states is how little they’ve depended on new government jobs for overall job creation.
Government jobs contributed only single-digit shares to the other states’ overall job growth. North Carolina’s share was just 8%. Florida’s just 3%. Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York even had negative government job growth over the period.
Illinois, in contrast, because of its loss of private sector jobs, relied entirely on government for its overall job growth.
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At Wirepoints, we’ve consistently made the case that Illinois’ many failed policies have turned the state into an extreme national outlier on the metrics that matter most for its residents.
It’s the same for jobs. Things won’t change for Illinoisans until they connect the dots between Illinois’ bad policies, its bad outcomes and the politicians they vote for.
*Note: Wirepoints used annual averages to avoid the volatility inherent in comparing point-to-point monthly jobs numbers. Comparing years using annual averages of job numbers from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data is a common and appropriate approach. The BLS itself often reports and analyzes employment trends using annual averages to smooth out short-term fluctuations and provide a more stable year-over-year comparison.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- One big reason your Illinois property taxes are so high. And why you should get a big refund.
- 2024 homicide rankings: Chicago, St. Louis lead nation yet again – A Wirepoints survey of America’s 75 largest cities
- One of the first targets for an Illinois DOGE? Chicago’s 20 nearly-empty, failing schools. Here’s the 2025 list.
- Wondering how Illinois’ projected $3.2 billion budget deficit disappeared?
- Illinois shouldn’t dismiss Indiana’s overture to snap up “separatist” downstate counties
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.
This stat alone should be the dagger that ends JB’s political career. Absolutely disgraceful given all the strengths that Illinois still has– location, transportation, interstates, rail lines open space educated workforce, higher ed, local venture capital, etc. All that is being squandered by these pinheads.
JB’s billions will ensure that the Pravda media doesn’t mention a whisper of these facts.
We’ve known for awhile that JB killed small business when he ruled through executive orders to shutdown the State of Illinois during Covid. The extremes he went through to do so were ridiculous, and these statistics demonstrate the result.
Just take a drive through downtown Chicago or any of the suburbs. There are many vacant storefronts, office buildings and warehouses that are now covered in gang graffiti. Yet the Emperor still doesn’t realize he has no clothes on?
If you do not count the private sector jobs and only the public sector jobs Illinois looks good.
Governor Hack is desperately trying to boost employment numbers with his latest media blitz promoting state jobs with more benefits from the get go than any public sector job. Like his kindred spirit Joe, he thinks people won’t notice thousands of “ created positions “.
Yaaaaaaawn, just more WP’er “back seat bellyaches” who ” are so tired of all the winning”!!!😁😁
JB making Illinois great again! I think not