Wrong way Illinois: January 2013 unemployment worsens compared with neighbors

The latest BLS unemployment release once again highlights how poorly Illinois is faring compared with its neighbors and the nation as a whole. Illinois’ January unemployment rate jumped to 9 percent, a 0.4 percent increase over December’s rate. Illinois now has the seventh-highest unemployment rate in the nation, with nearly 600,000 Illinoisans unemployed. Meanwhile, the...

The latest BLS unemployment release once again highlights how poorly Illinois is faring compared with its neighbors and the nation as a whole. Illinois’ January unemployment rate jumped to 9 percent, a 0.4 percent increase over December’s rate. Illinois now has the seventh-highest unemployment rate in the nation, with nearly 600,000 Illinoisans unemployed.

Meanwhile, the state’s neighbors continue to weather the poor economy better than Illinois; their January unemployment rate average was 7.2 percent. If Illinois could reach its neighbors’ average unemployment rate, nearly 120,000 fewer Illinoisans would be unemployed.

January’s numbers marked an increase in the gap in the unemployment rate between Illinois and its neighbors. In December, the difference was 1.5 percentage points. January saw that gap increase to 1.8 percentage points.

Illinois’ poor economic policies are to blame. While Gov. Pat Quinn and the General Assembly continue to double down on failed ideas, the state’s neighbors are taking advantage of the slowly improving national economy by enacting pro-growth policies – such as lowering taxes and cutting spending.

As a result, since Quinn took office in January of 2009, Illinois’ unemployment rate has risen above its neighbors’ average and is now a point higher in January 2013 than it was in January 2009.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
*Neighbor avg. is a weighted average of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin

Illinois’ anti-growth policies have resulted in:

•    $96 billion in unfunded pension liabilities – more than $200 billion under new accounting rules
•    Nearly $10 billion in unpaid bills
•    The lowest credit rating in the country

The private economy in Illinois is being weighed down by the failures of the state government, but Illinois lawmakers don’t seem to understand that. Unless legislators get serious about spending and pension reform, Illinoisans will continue to find opportunities in other states.