Right in time for the weekend, here’s some news Illinoisans can celebrate: Illinois’ unemployment rate is at its lowest mark since 2008.
According to data released from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Illinois’ seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate for April 2014 was 7.9 percent, down from 8.4 percent in March. While that is good news, Illinois is still the third-worst state in the nation, ahead of only Rhode Island and Nevada.
Chicago Tribune reporter Samantha Bomkamp has more on the new data.
Writes Bomkamp:
“As Illinois’ economy continues to gain momentum, April’s numbers reflect more people getting back to work and more employers adapting to the new national economy.” IDES Director Jay Rowell said.
The total number of unemployed individuals in the state fell by 6.5 percent to 516,000. That’s despite the fact that early estimates suggest that there were 7,800 fewer private sector jobs in April.
The state unemployment rate is still far higher than the national unemployment rate, which fell to 6.3 percent in April.
The chart below compares Illinois’ rate to the national rate over the past ten years.
US Unemployment Rate data by YCharts
Keeping with unemployment in Illinois, there are advocates who point to a minimum wage increase in Illinois as a possible solution. Others say an increase would raise the unemployment rate.
House Speaker Michael Madigan wanted the House to pass a bill raising the minimum wage during the spring session, but now Madigan has made it known he doesn’t have enough support to pass a minimum-wage increase, so he has changed course and is proposing alternative legislation that would put a referendum on the November ballot to let Illinois voters voice their opinions on raising Illinois’ minimum wage from $8.25 to $10.
Dave McKinney from the Chicago Sun-Times reports:
“The belief is this will help build support among legislators to get the minimum-wage increase through,” said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown, who predicted the outcome would guide action on the issue during the post-election, lame-duck session of the General Assembly.
Madigan’s legislation is posted for a Friday morning hearing in Springfield. Brown said a floor vote on the measure likely will come next week.
Following President Barack Obama’s lead, Gov. Pat Quinn and other top Illinois Democrats have made the minimum wage a signature issue for the fall campaign.
While the unemployment rate dropping is good news for the state, House Republicans might not be in much of a celebrating mood today, even with news a possible minimum wage increase will get delayed, after House Democrats muscled through several spending bills without a clear-cut way to pay for it all. All together, the spending bills pushed through total more than $38 billion worth of spending.
Chicago Sun-Times reporters Dave McKinney and Elise Dismer have more:
Thursday’s numbingly long legislative slog ended with 73 appropriations bills being passed despite unrelenting complaints from Republicans, who accused Democrats of signing off on an out-of-balance 2015 budget. The GOP claimed the package contained a $4 billion revenue hole caused by uncertainty over whether income-tax rates will drop or stay the same in January.
“The budget passed by Democrats today ignores the constitution and ignores the taxpayers. It’s what is wrong with state government,” House Minority Leader Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs, said after the nearly 11-hour round of budget voting. “Nothing in this budget will put the unemployed back to work. It will do just the opposite while the migration of families and business will continue.”
In a late development Thursday filled with political intrigue, House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, invoked a rare parliamentary maneuver that blocks the spending bills from being sent to the Senate, keeping them under House control.
Before that move, the House debated roughly $38 billion in spending bills for every facet of state government, passing them all in a series of tight, partisan roll calls.
The day offered no clarity on whether House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, was making any headway toward reaching the necessary 60 House votes from his 71-member caucus to keep the temporary income-tax increases from rolling back in January. At one point Thursday, the Capitol Fax political blog estimated that Madigan’s headcount stood at a mere 53.
“He hasn’t given me a number, but I think we’re a decent ways away,” Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said late Thursday, when asked how far his boss had to go to reach the 60-vote threshold.
Still, perhaps the biggest issue facing lawmakers right now is the proposed 2015 budget and whether or not the income tax hike will be extended or rolled back. What are your thoughts on the situation?
NEXT ARTICLE: Do you oppose making the temporary income tax permanent? Use our Sound Off tool to let your legislators, Gov. Pat Quinn and the four leaders of the General Assembly know how you feel. It’s fast, easy and effective.
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Brendan Bond is an editorial assistant at Reboot Illinois. He is a graduate of Loyola University, where he majored in journalism. Brendan takes a look each day at the Land of Lincoln Lowdown and it’s often pretty low. He examines the property tax rates that drive Illinoisans insane. You can find Reboot on Facebook and on Twitter @rebootillinois.