Illinois' Unemployment Rate Recovery Ranks Poorly: Study

ILLINOIS — While the United States created nearly 6 million jobs in 2021, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent nationally, job gains slowed to 210,000 in November — fewer than half of what economists expected — and the economic recovery has not benefitted all state's equally.

In Illinois, for example, unemployment is still at 5.7 percent — down significantly from a pandemic high of 16.5 percent, but still about 60 percent higher than pre-pandemic.

Despite jobless claims falling to a 52-year low nationally, Illinois' unemployment rate is still the 12th highest in the country.

The personal finance site WalletHub ranked states by how fast their unemployment rates have bounced back. Illinois ranked 42 out of 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia.

According to WalletHub, unemployment was 56.3 percent higher in November than during the same month in 2019, with 354,204 Illinoisans out of a job now vs. 226,623 back then.

Even so, unemployment is down more than 29 percent since November 2020, during the height of the pandemic's fall surge.

Measured from 2019, Illinois has had the 11th worst recovery in the U.S., according to WalletHub. Measured from January 2020, it's been the 8th worst. Measured from November 2020, it ranks about average.

Jill Gonzalez, a WalletHub analyst, said unemployment differs greatly by demographic.

"The unemployment rate for white people is 3.4%, while it’s much higher, at 6.1%, for black people," she explained. "The racial disparity is troubling, especially in the context of broader discussions of inequality that have taken place in the past year."

Stephanie Luce, a professor of Labor Studies at the City University of New York, told WalletHub that cities and states should rethink how they spend tax money to bolster the economic rebound.

"Most immediately, states must do what governments have done in other periods of crisis, like wartime," she said. "We must raise taxes on millionaires and corporations. There are a host of options depending on the state."

Luce continued: "Some cities spend up to 40% of their budget on police. Many cities are currently looking to cut public services and employment while increasing spending on police. It is time to cut that spending!"