Rauner’s Team Calls Horrible Jobs Report “Good News”

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Illinois Was Worst Among Neighbors Over Past Year, Grew Jobs at a Third of the National Rate

Governor Bruce Rauner is desperate for any good news to help his failing reelection campaign. On Friday, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced Illinois only grew 29,600 jobs over the past year, an annual job growth rate of 0.49%. New numbers out today show that Illinois performed the worst among its neighbors and grew at a third of the annual national rate of 1.41%.
Rauner’s administration called the jobs report “good news” to Mark Maxwell of WCIA.
Well, the bad news is that Rauner’s reason for optimism only reinforces how poorly his administration has performed. His team pointed out that Illinois create more jobs that it did the year before, which is only true because 2016 was the worst year for job growth this decade. Illinois grew 18,900 jobs that year, a steep drop off from recent trends.
“Bruce Rauner is desperately trying to spin what is a major failure on his part – the lack of job growth,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “The truth is that the economic turnaround Rauner promised never materialized, and his policies only made the situation worse. Jobs and people are still fleeing the state and Rauner refuses to take responsibility for his failed leadership.”

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Background: 
Job Growth Has Dropped Off Under Bruce Rauner. According to IDES numbers, job growth has slowed under Bruce Rauner. The following are seasonally adjusted, December to December job numbers.

  • 2014: 1.49% (87,200 jobs created)
  • 2015: 1.38% (81,600 jobs created)
  • 2016: 0.31% (18,900 jobs created)
  • 2017: 0.49% (29,600 jobs created)

[BLS, Accessed 1/19/18]
In 2017, Illinois Only Grew Jobs At A Rate Of 0.49%, Worst Among Neighbors. The following are seasonally adjusted, December to December job numbers provided by BLS. Iowa grew jobs at a rate of 1.8%, Wisconsin at 1.37%, Michigan at 1.31%, Minnesota at 1.28%, Kentucky at 1.10%, Indiana at 0.89%, and Missouri at 0.79%. [BLS, Accessed 1/23/18]