New data show Illinois lost private sector jobs amid a national economic expansion for the first year on record in 2019, a sign of the state’s deep structural problems in the run-up to the current market downturn.

Only Mississippi has fared worse than Illinois in personal income growth since the Great Recession hit at the end of 2007. Analysis shows state income taxes matter.

Illinois suffered its sixth consecutive year of population decline in 2019, driven entirely by residents leaving for other states.

The largest permanent income tax hike in Illinois history was followed by a slide to 34th least-free state in the union, behind nearly every neighboring state.