Pritzker’s record: Illinois unemployment rate averages 3rd-highest in U.S.
The state also is one of 15 to average fewer job openings than unemployed residents since 2019.
Since J.B. Pritzker became governor in 2019, Illinois’ unemployment rate has trended above the national average.
The average rate in Illinois was 5.4% from January 2019, when Pritzker took office, to July 2026, a figure affected at least slightly by COVID. That’s third-highest in the country in that time.
Illinois’ preliminary unemployment rate in July was 4.9%, with over 300,000 residents looking for work. The rate is higher than the 4.6% when Pritzker took office and considerably higher than the national average of 4.1% in July. Under Pritzker, Illinois’ rate has typically been above the national average.
Illinois has only two job openings for every three unemployed people, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
That’s better than historic numbers, when in the worst months after the Great Recession, Illinois had fewer than one job opening for every seven unemployed workers.
Despite Illinois’ relatively high unemployment rate and slow job growth, improvement in the metric would be possible because of factors such as a shrinking population and a stagnant labor force.
But Illinois still lags most states. It’s one of 15 to average fewer job openings than unemployed residents since 2019.
Illinois’ job growth is in the bottom five states nationally. Non-farm jobs in the state grew by less than 1% from 2018 to 2025, ranking Illinois 45th among the 50 states in that time.
This weak performance didn’t arise out of nowhere: Illinois lawmakers have made it difficult to do business in the state, with the third-highest corporate income tax and a tax code among the Midwest’s least friendly for businesses.
Without removing regulatory burdens and providing real tax relief for businesses, Pritzker cannot expect Illinois’ unemployment problem to improve as he runs for a third term.
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