Amazon bought the old commercial property, but Bolingbrook’s mayor opposes putting 1,500 jobs on it. Illinois’ job growth was below the national average in 2019.
Despite Gov. J.B. Pritzker touting growth in “every major region,” Illinois shed jobs in three metropolitan areas and lagged the national average in seven more.
Illinois’ unemployment rate hit 3.9% in September – the first time in decades that the jobless rate went under 4%, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Illinois has a higher percentage of its residents on food stamps than its neighboring states, and has seen a much slower decline in food stamp recipients following the recession.
Most business is mobile. Most of Illinois is close to another state. Add a progressive state income tax and watch businesses such as Piasa Motor Fuels cross the bridge to Missouri.
The Jeep Cherokee manufacturer plans to lay off nearly 1,400 workers at its Belvidere, Illinois, facility and invest $4.5 billion in a 6,500-job expansion in Michigan.
A vinyl graphics business in southwestern Illinois wasn’t planning to downsize. But the state’s $15 minimum wage hike has forced the owners to cut six jobs.
Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.