Politicians and pundits can’t seem to agree about whether the U.S. is in a recession, but the semantics matter little for struggling Americans. Illinois can expect economic pain regardless of what it’s called.

The pandemic caused the largest and shortest economic contraction in U.S. history. But as other states recovered, Illinois’ economy remained $17 billion below the pre-pandemic trend through the first half of 2021.

Data published last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis revealed that U.S. gross domestic product shrank at an annualized rate of -32.9% during the second quarter.

Business sectors directly affected by the coronavirus and mitigation employ 1.5 million Illinoisans. The longer the shutdown, the more industries and jobs face cuts.

A quarter of Illinois’ workers are staring down the economic impacts of a global pandemic.

Why is Illinois construction so weak? As it turns out, big government programs can’t paper over weak fundamentals.