CHICAGO (March 17, 2022) – Two years since Gov. J.B. Pritzker locked down Illinois’ economy in response to COVID-19, a new analysis shows Illinois’ jobs growth is lagging most states in nearly every industry.

The nonpartisan Illinois Policy Institute found Illinois is missing nearly twice as many jobs as the national economy. The state has only recovered 76% of the jobs lost during the onset of the pandemic and state-mandated shutdowns – ranking its recovery 14th worst in the nation, and the fourth-least recovered of any state in the Midwest.

Illinois is still missing 200,100 jobs compared to January 2020, when the state’s job numbers peaked. In addition, 317,600 Illinoisans are still out of work and the state’s unemployment rate of 5% is 41st highest in the nation.

“Illinois’ jobs market remains one of the least recovered of any Midwestern state. The pain of job losses in early 2020 and Illinois’ slow recovery can still be felt by workers across nearly every industry in the state,” said Bryce Hill, senior research analyst for the Illinois Policy Institute.

Experts at the Institute note more than one-third of the workers who are still missing from Illinois’ workforce have likely retired, while a record exodus is driving population decline and threatening to prevent the state’s economy from ever returning to pre-pandemic employment levels.

“State and local governments are handcuffed by large fixed costs – namely pensions – that prevent them from providing tax relief or increasing services during trying times. This works against the state’s recovery,” Hill said. “Even if Illinois is able to keep adding jobs at the same pace as it did last year, payrolls would not make a full recovery until the latter half of the year.”

The Illinois Policy Institute analysis finds:

• Illinois’ labor market lags most other states in virtually every industry, with jobs growth for leisure and hospitality, government, construction and mining among the bottom quarter in the nation.
• The hardest-hit industry is the leisure and hospitality sector, where payrolls are down 13.4% – or 84,000 missing jobs – while U.S. payrolls are only down 10.1% compared to pre-pandemic peaks. Its change in jobs ranked 44th in the nation.
• Ten states have already surpassed their pre-pandemic employment levels. South Dakota, Indiana and Missouri are the most recovered Midwestern states, each recovering more than 90% of their states’ job losses.

To read more about the state of Illinois’ labor market, visit illin.is/covidjobless.

For bookings or interviews, contact media@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977.