Illinois is one of the states with the most to gain from the continued national jobs recovery, but could be hit harder than other states by a recession.

Despite a full year of job gains, all Illinois metropolitan areas are missing jobs since the pandemic began and the recovery stalled. While May brought job gains statewide, only eight metro areas saw gains while seven saw losses.

Illinois’ employment recovery continued in May, but the state is still missing nearly one in six jobs lost during the pandemic.

U.S. Steel is cutting up to 1,000 jobs and selling parts of its Granite City plant. The move comes as Madison County employment remains down over 5,600 jobs since the pandemic.

Illinois’ overall job numbers continue to rise, but the recovery is spotty. Over half of the metropolitan areas failed to add jobs in April.

One of the state’s biggest employers is relocating their headquarters to Irving, Texas. A decade ago Caterpillar’s CEO warned state leaders of business losses unless they balanced the budget, controlled workers’ comp costs and cut taxes. He was ignored.

Illinois’ employment recovery continued in April, but the state is still missing almost one in five jobs lost during the pandemic.

Illinois is steadily adding jobs lost during the COVID-19 economic downturn, but despite 10 months of gains the state recovery lags the nation. Some metropolitan areas are far behind where they were.

Key indicators show Illinois’ labor market could begin adding jobs faster than the national economy if population decline and Amendment 1 don’t derail the state’s trajectory.

Illinois’ employment recovery continued in March, but the state is still missing one in five jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic downturn and state restrictions.