Chicago City Wire

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Illinois employment numbers have dropped since 2019. Chicago, Naperville, and Elgin have more than 80,000 losses, combined. 

State Sen. Darren Bailey is accusing Gov. J.B. Pritzker, his opponent in the Nov. 8 election, of allowing the state's economy to falter.

“Chicago has long been the economic epicenter for Illinois," Bailey said. "The success of our state really does hinge on what happens in our biggest population center, and under J.B. Pritzker not only has the economy not grown - it is flailing. We have seen some of Chicago’s biggest employers such as Caterpillar and Boeing leave Illinois. These major employers have told us why they are leaving. They are tired of the hostile business environment in Illinois. They are tired of politicians ignoring rising crime and they are tired of corruption in our state. We know why they have left. We know what we need to do to fix the problems. It is time we started listening to the business community and give businesses reasons to stay rather than reasons to leave. This is exactly what a Darren Bailey Administration will accomplish.”

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin's employment dropped by 1.7%, bringing a job loss of 81,556 (from 4,788,931 to 4,707,375). These latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate employment drops across Illinois from January 2019 to June 2022. 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 (from 158,466 to 148,575, a difference of 9,891). Decatur like Rockford, dropped by 6.2% (from 46,492 to 43,628, a difference of 2,864), Danville's lowered by 5.3% (from 31,359 to 29,684, a difference of 1,675), Peoria's numbers decreased by 4.5% (from 168,268 to 160,778, a difference of 7,490), Carbondale-Marion's numbers decreased by 2.9% (from 57,715 to 56,052, a difference of 1,663), Davenport-Moline-Rock Island's rate decreased by 2.4% (from 186,409 to 181,871, a difference of 4,538), Springfield recorded a 1.5% employment drop (from 102,108 to 100,529, a difference of 1,579), and Bloomington's dropped by 1.2% (from 92,184 to 91,105, a 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).

Bailey also recently criticized Pritzker for enacting regulations regarding temporary workers such as babysitters and caregivers. 

“The last thing we need in Illinois is more red tape, more rules and more regulations," Bailey said, according to Prairie State Wire. "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.” 

Corporate offices of many businesses have relocated outside of the state. NBC 5 Chicago has previously reported that the most recognized manufacturer of airplanes, Boeing, declared that it would leave the area starting in May. The aerospace giant, which was founded in Washington, relocated to Chicago in 2001. Nearly 16,000 jobs were lost as a result of the pandemic, which is more than 10% of the workforce of the company.

On June 14, Caterpillar declared that its corporate headquarters would be moving to Irving, Texas. Jim Umpleby, the chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar, said that the decision was made with the company's "strategic interest" in mind, according to the Chicago Tribune. Only the 230 workers in the corporate office, according to Caterpillar, would be affected.

Longtime Pritzker critic and billionaire Ken Griffin has also decided that his company, Citadel Securities, would move to Miami from Chicago over security concerns. “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. “Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe.”

Griffin had funded Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin's campaign for governor.