Illinois stands out in the industrial Midwest for its skewed government-to-manufacturing-jobs ratio.

Deere & Co. plans to lay off 115 manufacturing workers by late September.

Manufacturers are struggling with unfavorable global conditions, and Illinois’ anti-growth policies are only hurting the state’s industrial sector more.

Illinois’ weak manufacturing recovery from the Great Recession has led to the Land of Lincoln’s having the worst unemployment rate among nearby and neighboring Rust Belt states.

Illinois physicians in the workers’ compensation system are allowed to sell “repackaged” pills directly to patients at huge markups, averaging between 60 and 300 percent.

The month of June saw Illinois continue to lose jobs, as the state’s long-term economic woes continue to push workers out of the state.

Illinois’ workers’ compensation system has not evolved to meet the modern workplace, and is instead working more for special interests than employers and employees.

Most states have far outstripped Illinois on the number of jobs recovered. And even worse, Illinois has also lagged in the quality of jobs recovered. Illinois was the 37th state to recover and match its pre-recession jobs count. But there are still 110,000 fewer Illinoisans working today than before the recession began.

News that Wrigley has started producing Skittles in Illinois has many excited – until they learn just how much Illinois gave in tax incentives to lure 75 new jobs.

There’s a reason new facilities aren’t being built in Illinois: In too many cases a business investment in Illinois doesn’t make financial sense unless Illinois taxpayers are paying for a chunk of the project. This system isn’t good for businesses, or for workers and unions that are losing jobs. Until Illinois makes the broad tax and regulatory reforms needed to compete for blue-collar jobs, businesses are going to keep expanding elsewhere or asking for tax breaks to come here.