Study: Illinois Financial Pandemic Impact 'Among The Worst' In The Country

From The Center Square:

By Kevin Bessler

A new report shows Illinoisans are hurting financially more so than most of the country during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The financial website SmartAsset compared the 50 states across six metrics, including recent measures of unemployment, housing insecurity and food insufficiency. Illinois ranked seventh in the nation for financial pain during the pandemic, according to the report.

SmartAsset spokesman Mark LoCastro said Illinois’ ranking was negatively affected by unemployment.

“In Illinois, the unemployment rate rose sharply, increasing by about 13 percentage points which is the eighth largest jump overall in our study,” LoCastro said.

With that rise, the unemployment rate in April was 16.4%, 1.7 points higher than the national average and the seventh-highest of all 50 states.

LoCastro said other categories brought Illinois down in the rankings as well.

“Despite low historic poverty rates, recent survey data shows a different picture,” LoCastro said. “More than one in four adults recently reported housing insecurity, while about one in eight were experiencing food insufficiencies.”

Louisiana, Michigan and Ohio have the most residents financially hurting during the pandemic, while Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota have the least.

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