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 New U.S. Department of Labor data shows an additional 74,476
Illinoisans filed for unemployment the week ending May 2, bringing total new
jobless claims to 950,029 since COVID-19 began shutting down the economy.
The sudden halt in economic activity following Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s order to
close “non-essential” businesses has caused the state’s unemployment rate to
surge to an estimated 19.6%, or a total of 1.23 million workers when those idled
since COVID-19 are added to those out of work before the pandemic. For context,
the state’s unemployment rate – not seasonally adjusted – peaked at 12.2% during
the Great Recession.
However, the state’s unemployment rate likely does not capture
the full picture of joblessness in the state, as many Illinoisans may give up
searching for work, or remain unaccounted for. Gig economy workers, independent
contractors and freelancers were just allowed to file for unemployment in
Illinois starting May 11, seven weeks after Pritzker first issued a stay-at-home
order.
Perhaps a more telling picture of how bleak the state’s labor market has become
is to look at the employed share of the civilian non-institutionalized
population (the number of working-age, non-military and non-inmate citizens).
The state’s employed share of the population suddenly dropped 17% to 51% from
February to May 2. Illinois’ employment rate’s previous low was 58% during the
worst period of the Great Recession, declining 11% relative to pre-recession
peaks.
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Illinois families cannot afford to be out of work
for an extended period of time. Many are still waiting to have their
unemployment claims processed and have little to no savings to feed
their families or cover other expenses. Other countries and other
U.S. states are beginning to phase in the re-opening of their
economies.
Business and consumer confidence are a cheap form of stimulus.
Pritzker now has an outline of a plan, but Illinoisans need it to be
more detailed for it to provide the certainty needed to make
economic decisions.
State lawmakers need to do their part to minimize uncertainty by
voting to remove the progressive income tax from the Nov. 3 ballot.
If passed, that tax hike will hit more than 100,000 small
businesses, the state’s most prolific job creators, just as they are
trying to recover from the COVID-19 recession.
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