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In
October, the Illinois unemployment rate was 4.6%, an increase of
0.2% over September’s numbers. That means Illinois’ unemployment
was 0.7% higher than the national unemployment rate in October.
Josh Bandoch of the Illinois Policy Institute said taxes and
restrictive regulations consistently keep Illinois near the
bottom of the 50 states when it comes to unemployment numbers.
The October increase of 0.2% over September represents thousands
of job seekers who can’t find work, Bandoch said.
In October, Illinois had the 5th highest unemployment numbers in
the country.
“In June, Illinois’ unemployment rate was 4.0%. In August, 4.1%.
September was 4.4%. In October, Illinois numbers were up to
4.6%,” Bandoch said.
A 0.6% increase in Illinois unemployment since June does not
sound like a lot, but it represents thousands of people, he
said.
Looking at unemployment figures across the Midwest, Illinois
does not fare as well as neighboring states.
“At 4.6%, Illinois is by far the worst state in the Midwest,”
Bandoch said.
The next closest state is Michigan, with an October unemployment
rate of 4.1%. Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin have much better
October numbers. They all report 3.2% unemployment, he said.
As the Illinois Policy Institute sees it, Illinois makes it
harder to create jobs because taxes are too high and Illinois
has too many burdensome regulations that are barriers to job
creation.
“Illinois has 279,000 instances of restrictive language in its
legal code where the code says, ‘You can’t do this and you can’t
do that,’” Bandoch said. Navigating all those restrictions is a
burden on businesses that want to expand, he said.
“Only 5 states are worse in their regulatory codes than
Illinois, and 44 states are better,” Bandoch said.
The healthcare and government sectors showed job gains this
fall. The end of the auto workers’ strike helped the
manufacturing sector. Jobs in leisure and hospitality continue
to trend up.
The latest national numbers show a decline in temporary jobs.
The number of retail jobs has declined by more than 31,000 jobs.
Holiday hiring has been the weakest in the past 10 years. The
increase in self-checkout is one possible factor in the decline
in retail jobs.
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