CHICAGO (Oct. 20, 2015) – Illinois lost thousands of jobs during September – including critical transportation and manufacturing jobs, according to a report the Bureau of Labor Statistics released this morning. The BLS report shows that Illinois is continuing to fall further behind neighboring state’s economies.

Last month, Illinois lost 6,900 payroll jobs on net, and the state’s unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent as more people reported finding some form of employment despite businesses reporting mass layoffs.

Today’s BLS report is a follow up to a report from the Illinois Department of Employment Security issued Friday, Oct. 16, which released preliminary data on Illinois’ economic performance. Today’s report gives a detailed look at Illinois’ economy compared to other states and the country as a whole.

An important takeaway from the BLS report today is the continued collapse of Illinois’ manufacturing sector – a significant indicator of middle-class job performance in the state. Illinois lost 1,800 manufacturing jobs in September and has lost 12,500 manufacturing jobs in 2015 alone while every neighboring Midwest state has added manufacturing jobs during the same timeline.

The Illinois Policy Institute’s Vice President of Policy, Michael Lucci, released the following statement on today’s report:

“Today’s job report showed Illinois again failing to create the jobs and economic growth the state is desperate for. Illinois has the same number of jobs today as it did nearly 17 years ago. That is an unacceptable statistic, but it is possible for Illinois’ economy to change for the better. Economic and political reforms, such as enacting term limits, workers’ compensation reform, enacting local Right to Work and many other policy changes will make Illinois competitive with neighboring states such as Indiana and Wisconsin, and allow Illinois to start making the ground fertile for jobs to come back to our state so we can grow our economy.”

Key data from today’s release include:

• In September, Illinois lost 6,900 payroll jobs. That means that so far in 2015, Illinois has only added 2,200 payroll jobs on net, the lowest number of any neighboring state. By comparison, in 2015:
  • Indiana added 40,100 jobs on net.
  • Wisconsin added 28,200 jobs on net.
  • Michigan added 53,900 jobs on net.
  • Ohio added 32,100 jobs on net.

• Illinois’ unemployment rate in September fell to 5.4 percent, down from 5.6 percent in August.

• Illinois’ workforce-participation rate has fallen to 64.4 percent, the lowest the state’s workforce-participation rate has been since 1977.

• Illinois’ sluggish economy has greatly affected the state budget. As state-to-state migration data from the IRS shows, taxpayers are moving out of Illinois and taxable income is being lost to other states. In 2013, Illinois lost 81,000 residents and $4.1 billion in taxable income to other states.