SPRINGFIELD – How is Illinois' job market recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic? Not so good.
Illinois is among the slowest-recovering ten states – 43rd out of 50. Just behind California and before New York.
Newly-released data for September from the Labor Department confirms that Republican governors and legislatures are leading the way in getting Americans back to work.
Illinois – led by a Democrat governor and a Democrat super-majority in the Illinois legislature – lost 824,200 jobs during the pandemic, and has regained only 494,900 – 60% of the total lost, placing Illinois among the slowest recovering seven states.
- More jobs are being recovered and unemployment is lower in red states.
- 17 of the top 20 states for jobs recovered since the coronavirus pandemic began are led by Republican governors, and 18 of the top 20 states have Republican-controlled legislatures.
- The top 14 states for jobs recovered are all led by Republicans.
Two Republican-led states – Idaho and Utah – have more jobs than when the pandemic hit.
- 24 Republican-led states have recovered at least two-thirds of their lost jobs.
- Republican-led states on average have recovered 80 percent of their lost jobs compared to just 67 percent for Democrat-run states.
- Two Democrat-run states – Louisiana and Hawaii – have failed to recover even half of the jobs lost due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The top-recovering states:
The worst recovering states:
