Illinois metro areas lag behind most others in the nation on jobs recovery
The unemployment rate fell in all of Illinois’ metropolitan statistical areas in July, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. In fact, unemployment rates have fallen in all metro areas for four consecutive months, which seems like welcome news. But these numbers are only encouraging at face value. As is...
The unemployment rate fell in all of Illinois’ metropolitan statistical areas in July, according to a press release from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. In fact, unemployment rates have fallen in all metro areas for four consecutive months, which seems like welcome news. But these numbers are only encouraging at face value.
As is the case with the superficial state unemployment drop, we can get the true picture these areas’ economic health by comparing them to areas in other states and expanding the time frame.
The fact is, Illinois’ economic recovery is severely lagging.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ household survey allows for employment comparisons across metro areas for the Great Recession period, and it shows that Illinois metros do not stack up well when compared to the rest of the country. The best-ranking Illinois metro area is Springfield, which comes in at 230th out of 372 metro areas.
Rockford, Decatur and Danville all fall in the bottom 10 percent of U.S. metro areas.
Compared to before the recession, Illinois metro areas have a long way to go to recover the payroll jobs that were lost during the recession, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ business survey. Rockford, which is the third-largest city in the state, is the furthest from recovery.
Since January 2008, when the Great Recession began, 12 of the 15 best-performing metro areas are in Texas. Metro areas in the Lone Star State take all of the top 6 spots.
Illinois metro areas can’t control the policy errors made by Springfield, such as the historic 2011 tax hikes.
They can, however, work to foster entrepreneurship by slashing wait times, reducing local business and occupational licensing requirements, and simplifying the permit process to make it easier to start a business.