Chicago City Wire

There’s no denying Gov. J.B. Pritzker should be one of the state’s biggest cheerleaders, consistently accentuating Illinois’ positives. It’s what any good governor should do.

But Pritzker too often corrupts his message with dishonest spin and, in the process, buries the real day-to-day struggles ordinary Illinoisans face. The governor was at it again when he spoke to Crain’s recently about the state of Illinois’ economy. Watch his talk here.

His comments to Crain’s were particularly dishonest when it comes to employment and crime. Jobs up, he says, crime down. It’s all part of the governor’s refusal to acknowledge Illinois’ extreme outlier status on the problems of high taxes, spiraling crime, poor economic growth, massive pension debts, dismal education results, and much more. 

Below we show how Pritzker’s jobs and crime rhetoric doesn’t match the facts on the ground – the facts that Illinoisans and Chicagoans must deal with every day.

1. Illinois employment growth lags entire nation under Pritzker

Gov. Pritzker had a lot to say about Illinois’ jobs climate, telling Crain’s the state is attracting new employers and jobs and that it’s in the best position in many years to boost its economy. He also told Crain’s: “Companies are coming to us. They want to do business in Illinois…we’re now in discussions with 25 companies, big companies with billions to invest and up to 4,000 jobs.”

Pritzker’s 4,000 jobs claim may sound impressive until you look at just how behind Illinois has fallen on employment during his tenure.

Nearly 125,000 fewer Illinoisans were employed in October 2023 than when Pritzker took office in Jan. 2019 – a decline of 2 percent. 

Not only is that equivalent to the entire population of Springfield losing a job, but it’s the 2nd-worst employment growth performance in the entire county, behind only Massachusetts.

All of Illinois’ neighbors performed better. Kentucky and Iowa’s declines were far smaller than Illinois, while every other neighbor saw their employment numbers grow. Missouri’s was up by 2.5 percent, adding 73,000 more people to its employment rolls.

On a percentage basis, Utah and Arizona were the nation’s big winners, with employment growing 13 percent and 11 percent respectively. And Texas and Florida each grew their employment numbers by over 1 million during the same period. 

Illinois’ manufacturing numbers are even worse, with total manufacturing jobs down by 4.7 percent – nearly 28,000 – since Pritzker took office. That’s the worst decline in factory jobs across all of Illinois’ neighbors except Michigan.

2. Chicago violent crime continues to grow, not shrink

Gov. Pritzker also said addressing crime is an “ongoing issue” but that “violent crime in the City of Chicago…has been coming down for three years, in particular, over the last year.” He even encouraged residents to “track it for themselves” by “looking at the statistics that the CPD publishes.”

Wirepoints did. And the data shows the exact opposite of his claim. 

Yes, homicides and shootings are down. But those aren’t the only violent crimes Chicagoans suffer.

There are four violent crimes found in the CPD Compstat report: murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery and aggravated battery.

Add those crimes up as of YTD, November 26, and you’ll find that, collectively, violent crimes are growing. They’re actually up by nearly 20 percent compared to 2019 and 14 percent over last year.

We also looked at the City of Chicago’s Violence Reduction Dashboard and the number of victims of violent crimes has grown every year since 2019. More than 31,600 Chicagoans have been victims of violent crimes so far this year, up 26 percent compared to 2019 and 13 percent higher than in 2022.

The count of all major crimes in Chicago is also set to hit a post-covid high this year. In all, major crimes are up nearly 60 percent compared to 2019 and 18 percent higher than in 2022.

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Pritzker’s pitch was seemingly another step forward for his presidential ambitions. He’s “pushing a message that might play well with a national audience,” Crain’s said.

The governor can spin his record all he wants, but he’s not being honest. The reality is Illinoisans are still suffering when it comes to both employment and crime.