Chart of the week: Setting the record straight on employment under Quinn

When Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign spokesperson, Brooke Anderson, joined host Mike Flannery on Fox Chicago on June 8, she claimed: “Unemployment is at its lowest point in more than five years. More people are working in Illinois today than when the governor took office.” But that’s simply not true. While the unemployment rate in Illinois...

When Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign spokesperson, Brooke Anderson, joined host Mike Flannery on Fox Chicago on June 8, she claimed:

“Unemployment is at its lowest point in more than five years. More people are working in Illinois today than when the governor took office.”

But that’s simply not true. While the unemployment rate in Illinois has dropped from a seasonally adjusted 8 percent to 7.9 percent since the governor took office in January 2009, there are 18,530 fewer people working today than when Quinn took office. During the Quinn tenure, Illinois has had the worst record in the Midwest for keeping people at work and for creating payroll jobs.

Illinois’ neighbors, on the other hand, are seeing employment growth.

Given these dismal statistics and the state of political discourse in Illinois, Anderson seems to believe that making outlandish statements about the state’s economic health under Quinn’s leadership is warranted.