According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, outside the Cape Girardeau, MO-IL region sitting at 3.3% and the St. Louis, MO-IL region sitting at 3.6%, the Chicago area has the lowest regional unemployment rate of 4.2%. The Carbondale/Marion area is at 5.1% and Rockford is at 6.8%.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.