Sangamon Sun

Springfield has lost more than 1,000 jobs since Gov. J.B. Pritzker has been in office.

Gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey wants to restore work opportunities for Illinoisans. 

"Springfield has lost 1,579 jobs during J.B. Pritzker’s tenure as governor," Bailey said. "This is what raising 24 taxes and fees will do to a state’s economy. The legacy of tax increases and mismanagement at the state level is simply not sustainable. The people of Illinois deserve better than the terrible policies of failed Governor Pritzker. I will work to make Illinois a destination for jobs and opportunities again."

The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate downturns across Illinois from January 2019 to June 2022. Springfield recorded a 1.5% employment drop (from 102,108 to 100,529, difference of 1,579). Kankakee had the largest decline in employment at 6.4% (from 52,830 to 49,431, a difference of 3,399) and Rockford comes in second with a 6.2% decline in employment numbers (from 158,466 to 148,575, a difference of 9,891). 

Decatur like Rockford, dropped by 6.2% (from 46,492 to 43,628, difference of 2,864), Danville's employment lowered by 5.3% (from 31,359 to 29,684, difference of 1,675), Peoria's decreased by 4.5% (from 168,268 to 160,778, difference of 7,490), Carbondale-Marion's decreased by 2.9% (from 57,715 to 56,052, difference of 1,663), Davenport-Moline-Rock Island's decreased by 2.4% (from 186,409 to 181,871, difference of 4,538), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin's dropped by 1.7% (from 4,788,931 to 4,707,375, difference of 81,556) and Bloomington's dropped by 1.2% (from 92,184 to 91,105, difference of 1,079). Champaign-Urbana was the only area that had an increase in employment numbers but only by 0.2% (from 118,669 to 118,888, a difference of 219).    

The state senator from Xenia has previously criticized Pritzker for increasing regulations on casual workers such as nannies and caregivers. 

“The last thing we need in Illinois is more red tape, more rules and more regulations. If we want to grow our economy and be a leader for jobs and opportunities in the Midwest, we need to prioritize policies that will create jobs, not jeopardize the ones we have. Pritzker’s priorities are misguided. Silly bureaucratic rules won’t grow our economy. Families are wondering how to afford to gas up their cars and purchase basic household necessities and the focus of the Pritzker administration is making sure people fill out time sheets for their nannies? It is no wonder we are losing jobs and opportunities here in Illinois,” Bailey said, according to Prairie State Wire.

Notably, there have been many businesses that have relocated their headquarters out of Illinois. For one, the most productive airplane manufacturer in the world, Boeing, announced its departure from the state in early May, NBC 5 Chicago reported. In 2001, the aerospace juggernaut relocated from Washington, where it was founded, to Chicago. Over 16,000 jobs were lost as a result of the pandemic, or over 10% of the whole workforce of the corporation.

Citadel Securities noted its move to Miami from Chicago was based on insecurity. 

“The firms are having difficulty recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city,” Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman, told The New York Times, according to Chicago City Wire. “Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe.”