It was another year of population losses for Chicago and the overwhelming majority of Illinois cities in 2023. Chicago’s population loss of 8,208 was the nation’s third-largest in the country, behind only New York and Philadelphia’s.
Job growth is good, unless it’s the government doing all the hiring. Unfortunately, that’s the situation in Illinois. The latest BLS data shows Illinois was able to eke out a gain of 17,100 jobs over the last 12 months, but only because government job gains offset the state’s private sector job losses.
Illinois education officials continuously claim there’s a teacher shortage across the state. Yet data from the state’s own Illinois Report Card shows that hiring at schools has been booming over the last 25 years, especially when you consider that student enrollment has been shrinking at the same time.
Ted joined Dan and Amy to talk about the failures of Mayor Johnson’s first year in office, what Chicago’s future looks like, why so many CPS teachers are chronically absent, the details of Gov. Pritzker’s $827 million giveaway to Rivian, and more.
Weekly crime statistics from the Chicago Police Department: Report through 5/12/2024.
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