Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com
May 25, 2021 | 2:42 PM
(The Center Square) – Illinois is a year past its lowest point in terms of job losses and it is recovering slower than all but a handful of states.
A new analysis of federal jobs data by the Illinois Policy Institute shows Illinois has added 408,400 jobs (+7.7%) since April 2020, or 7.7% of the jobs lost since then.
The only states adding a lower percentage of jobs were Nebraska (+7.5%), Louisiana (+7.5%), Iowa (+7.4%), Oklahoma (+5.9%), Wyoming (+4.7%) and New Mexico (+4.2%), the report said.
“Employment levels in Illinois remain 424,800 below their pre-pandemic peak in January 2020, meaning Illinois has regained fewer than half the jobs it lost during the pandemic,” the report said. “As a result, Illinois is battling one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.”