Illinois Tops For Midwest States In Food Stamps/Jobs Ratio

<sarcasm> More Great News for us here in Illinois. </sarcasm>

Via the IPI: 

Since the Great Recession ended, Illinois’ food-stamp enrollment has outpaced job creation by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1. 

The jobs versus food stamps comparison is a strong indicator of economic hardship. And compared to the rest of the Midwest, Illinoisans are truly feeling the pain. 

Since the Great Recession ended, Illinois is the only state in the Midwest to have more people end up on food stamps than in a job. Every other state in the Midwest has had more job creation than food-stamp enrollment. In fact, North Dakota, Missouri and Michigan have actually seen their food-stamp enrollment decline since January 2010, while also adding a healthy number of new payroll jobs.

The Truth About The Illinois Economy and Jobs Via The Illinois Policy Institute

It isn't all roses for Pat Quinn and the Illinois Democrats.  Via Michael Lucci at the Illinois Policy Institute in a piece titled "The Truth Hurts" that they emailed out:

Illinois’ labor force shrank by 17,100 people in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS also reported that the state's unemployment rate fell to 6.8% from 7.1%. However, the entire decline in the July unemployment rate came as a result of workers quitting the workforce. 

This grim news comes after a disastrous June, when 21,600 people dropped out of the Illinois workforce – more than any other month in state history.
In the last four months, a total of 63,000 Illinoisans have quit the labor force. Workers quitting the workforce has been the primary factor driving the unemployment rate down to 6.8% from 8.4% in the same period. 

Meanwhile, Illinois’ working-age population has grown by 17,000 in the last four months, leaving a total of 80,000 working-age Illinoisans out of the workforce and unaccounted for since March. As a result, Illinois’ labor force participation rate slid to historic lows.

Illinois gained 10,300 payroll jobs, according to the BLS' establishment survey. However, the state remains down 5,900 private-sector jobs on the year, the worst record of any state in 2014. Only Illinois and Alaska are down jobs on the year.

Illinois remains 170,000 jobs away from recovering to the number of jobs the state had in January 2008, when recession job losses began.

Seventeen states have already recovered all the jobs they lost during the recession. The Land of Lincoln remains furthest away from recovery of any state in the U.S.

A number of factors have contributed to the worst recovery in the U.S. 

Policy leaders have done nothing to reform Illinois’ broken system of cronyism and excessive business regulation. The state’s nonsensical regulations and excessive wait times contribute to a dismal business environment, which was given an F by local small businesses. 

However, the most blatant policy misstep was the historic 2011 tax hike, which raised taxes on all Illinoisans by 67%, and signaled to business the state’s determination to follow a tax-and-spend direction. The 2011 tax hike put the brakes on Illinois’ jobs recovery, dramatically slowing down a recovery that, up until that point, had been keeping pace with the rest of the Midwest and U.S. 

Employment growth has slowed down by more than one-half since the January 2011 tax hike. Employment growth has accelerated for the rest of the U.S. since the same date. 

Job growth has slowed down by more than one-quarter since the January 2011 tax hike. 

Job growth has accelerated for the rest of the U.S. since the same date. 

The first steps necessary for beginning a real recovery include admitting that there is a problem, addressing the symptoms and looking for the root causes. 

One obvious cause is the 2011 tax hike. To allow the state to heal, the 2011 tax hikes must be sunset and then eliminated. If not, Illinois' labor force will continue to suffer.

We Hate The Hawkeyes. This Makes It *That* Much Worse

Illinois families have undoubtably 'felt' this effect, but now Michael Lucci at the Illinois Policy Institute is out with their latest that shows what under a total Democrat-controlled government here in Illinois.

Illinoisans enjoyed a larger paycheck than their Iowa counterparts for 30 years – until 2012. 

That year, for the first time ever, the median household in Iowa surpassed its Illinois counterpart. 

The middle income in Illinois has collapsed by $12,000 in the last 15 years, indicating that the state is hollowing out its middle class. 

These shrinking paychecks have been driven by a number of factors, including state policies that smother entrepreneurs, a regulatory environment that strangles businesses, Illinois’ culture of cronyism and overall high taxation. 

In addition, Illinois’ out-migration crisis is magnitudes greater than Iowa’s, as Iowa has turned the corner and is stemming its annual loss of residents to other states. 

Illinois, on the other hand, leads the Midwest in exporting talent, accounting for a net loss of 50,000 Illinoisans and $2 billion worth of income in 2010 alone. 

The average Illinoisan who leaves the state makes about $8,700 more than the average person who enters into the state, and about $9,300 more than the state median income, causing the state’s middle income to slip lower and lower. 

As recently as 1990, Illinois had the highest median household income of the 12 states in the Midwest. Now Illinoisans have fallen to sixth, with Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin moving ahead. 

Illinois’ tax-and-spend policies, cronyism and dystopian regulation do not serve the middle class.

Regardless of the football outcomes, we here in Illinois could always hold our head's high in knowing that we were just a bit *better* than those Hawkeyes.  Unfortunately...it looks like we've lost that battle, too.

Illinois Tops on a Very Bad List Thanks to Tax Increases

As pointed out by OneMan, this chart from the Illinois Policy Institute shows how Illinois' jobless rate has gone up more in the last five years than any other state in the nation.

Is there an explanation for this?  We're guessing the income tax increases the Democrats have jammed through are at the root of the issue.    Head on over to the IPI blog to read the whole thing.