Illinois’ metro areas already face unemployment problems, with some of the nation’s worst rates. They could be hit harder by a recession than other places in the nation.

The latest job numbers show Illinois continues struggling to recover pandemic job losses, a bad sign for its lagging economy as recession fears rise.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is claiming his administration has fought for Illinois families. Since Pritzker took office, Illinois’ unemployment rate is worse compared to other states.

Illinois’ lagging pandemic recovery continued across its cities in July. Only 1 metropolitan area has recovered from the pandemic.

Illinois stands as one of the states with the most to gain – and lose – as the national economy continues to surpass job growth expectations.

Only Bloomington has recouped early 2020 job losses, which is bad news for Illinois’ lagging economy as recession fears increase.

With the highest unemployment rate in the Midwest and 117,000 jobs still missing, Illinois’ labor market is among the least recovered in the region.

Illinois’ job opening rate declined 1.5 percentage points in May. That’s not a good way to enter a potential recession.

Wages have failed to keep up with inflation, dropping Illinoisans’ purchasing power by $2,900 on average.

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.