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HISPANIC ILLINOISANS ONLY GROUP TO FULLY
RECOVER FROM COVID-19 JOB LOSSES
Illinois Policy Institute
| Ann Miller
Although Hispanics were one of the groups hardest hit by
pandemic-related job losses, 85,000 more Hispanic Illinoisans were
employed in December 2021 compared to December 2019. Hispanic women are
driving their recovery.
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 While over 230,800 jobs are still
missing in Illinois compared to late 2019, Hispanic Illinoisans have seen the
one of the strongest jobs recoveries among racial and ethnic groups.
Employment increased among Hispanic Illinoisans by 8.7%, or 84,944 jobs, during
the pandemic. They not only recovered, but surpassed pre-pandemic employment
levels.
Hispanic women were the primary drivers of recovery for the group, with
employment increasing 70,846 jobs (+17.7%) compared to December 2019. Hispanic
men saw their job counts increase by 14,097 (+2.4%) during the same period.
Employment increased more for Hispanic men than for Black or white non-Hispanic
men in Illinois. COVID-19 and state-mandated lockdowns served to
widen pre-existing racial gaps in Illinois, causing heavier job losses among
Black Illinoisans.
Black Illinoisans have fallen the farthest behind. Their employment is down
10.4% overall, accounting for 73,433 missing jobs. Black men in Illinois are
still missing 33,829 (-10.4%) of their pre-pandemic jobs, while employment of
Black women in Illinois is down 10.3%, missing 39,605 of their pre-pandemic
jobs.
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Across the board, employment of white Illinoisans also remains down (-7.8%) with
307,494 jobs missing compared to late 2019. Employment of white men remains down
7%, missing 140,362 jobs, and white women are down 8.5%, missing 167,131 jobs.
Smaller subsets of the population who identify as Asian, native, or multi-racial
also experienced strong employment growth from December 2019-December 2021,
adding more than 65,184 jobs (+13.3%). However, growth among just one or two
communities isn’t enough to improve outcomes across the Illinois labor market.
Illinois is experiencing one of the slowest employment recoveries in the nation
and it is the worst among its Midwestern neighbors. Illinois' early and
long-lasting COVID-19 mandates slowed the state’s employment recovery compared
to neighboring states, which enacted restrictions later and repealed them
sooner.
Illinois has seen record-breaking population loss because of severe
restrictions, service declines and high taxes. About one-third of workers
missing from Illinois’ workforce are older workers who retired and likely will
not return.
Population losses further threaten Illinois’ recovery in 2022. |
