South Central Reporter

As unemployment steadily rises in Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker proposed several new taxes that will make the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic harder for the state’s businesses, the Illinois Policy Institute reported. 

The governor has proposed nine taxes for the 2022 Fiscal Year Budget worth approximately $1 billion and targets employers and efforts to create jobs, the institute reported.

Illinois is among the worst in financial recovery, ranking 49th in the nation and trailing Ohio and the District of Columbia, according to WalletHub. 

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker | illinois.gov

The outlook has improved little as new unemployment claims in Illinois rose for the second week despite a national trend moving in the other direction. Illinois recorded a total of 74,944 new unemployment claims for the week ending Feb. 20. The new figures are an increase of 62,369 from the week before as Illinois jobs are lost. Recent claims in the nation dropped by 111,000.

Coupled with the governor’s mandated closures, the coronavirus has hurt low-income families four times more than other counterparts. Most closures are in the leisure and hospitality sector, which suffered 40% more closures than any other sectors in the nation.

Those receiving unemployment have seen a decrease in benefits throughout the state and nationally for the week ending Feb. 13. Illinois had a total of 272,065 jobless claims with 2,611 fewer workers, the report said.

Compounding problems are the Tier 3 mitigation mandates posed by the governor in November that closed all indoor seating at restaurants and bars in addition to the seasonal cold weather canceling out all outdoor seating.

Illinois did begin easing restrictions on Jan. 23 and has continued to do so.

The rise in new unemployment claims did take place as the state’s seven-day COVID-19 positivity rate fell to 2.6%. As of recent, approximately 2.3 million doses of vaccine have been administered as of Feb. 24, according to the report.