Expect Kentucky to gain even more Illinoisans in coming years.

New Illinois jobs data reveal a state with thousands of job losses, unemployment rising to 5.7 percent, a collapsing manufacturing sector, and several downstate communities sliding back into recession — all of which make the Illinois Senate’s new tax hike proposal especially harmful.

Nippon Sharyo points to prototype difficulties and unspecified business concerns as the main reasons behind the layoffs.

Illinois’ weak economic growth and population loss may signal the beginning of a financial death spiral.