Illinois lost 3,000 jobs on net in 2015, while other neighboring and Great Lakes manufacturing states all gained tens of thousands of jobs on net for the year.
The state unemployment rate jumped to 5.9 percent from 5.7 percent, driven by an increase of 18,300 Illinoisans who are unemployed. Illinois also has 178,000 fewer people working compared to before the Great Recession.
No worker should be forced to pay a union in order to have or hold onto a job. Workers in Lincolnshire are now the first in Illinois to be guaranteed this basic right, as the Village Board voted Dec. 14 to adopt local Right to Work.
Illinois’ tax code stands in the way of the state’s economic competitiveness. The combination of high tax burdens and a poor tax structure contributes to the loss of jobs and investment to other states. From a place of former economic dominance, Illinois now ranks 45th in gross state product (GSP) growth over the past decade...