Kankakee Times

Republican candidate for governor Sen. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) has called out Gov. J.B. Pritzker over jobs lost in the state.

Over 3,000 jobs were lost in Kankakee since January 2019.

“Under JB’s watch, the Kankakee Metro area lost 3,399 jobs," Bailey said. "What is JB Pritzker’s plan to reverse these trends? He ran on a promise to create jobs and get the Illinois economy moving. I suppose the economy is moving. Unfortunately, it is moving in the wrong direction and people in places like Kankakee are seeing their jobs go elsewhere. No more excuses, JB. We need action and we need results. JB’s failings are hurting families and costing jobs. It is time for real change in Illinois.

Bailey's remarks came after the Bureau of Labor and Statistics published its recent employment numbers which indicated downturns across Illinois from January 2019 to June 2022. Kankakee had the largest decline in employment at 6.4% (from 52,830 to 49,431, a difference of 3,399) and Rockford comes in second with a 6.2% decline in employment numbers (from 158,466 to 148,575, a difference of 9,891). Decatur, like Rockford, dropped by 6.2% (from 46,492 to 43,628, a difference of 2,864), Danville's employment rate lowered by 5.3% (from 31,359 to 29,684, a difference of 1,675), Peoria's decreased by 4.5% (from 168,268 to 160,778, a difference of 7,490), Carbondale-Marion's decreased by 2.9% (from 57,715 to 56,052, a difference of 1,663), Davenport-Moline-Rock Island's decreased by 2.4% (from 186,409 to 181,871, a difference of 4,538), Chicago-Naperville-Elgin's dropped by 1.7% (from 4,788,931 to 4,707,375, a difference of 81,556), Springfield recorded a 1.5% employment drop (from 102,108 to 100,529, a difference of 1,579), and Bloomington's dropped by 1.2% (from 92,184 to 91,105, a difference of 1,079). Champaign-Urbana was the only area that had an increase in employment numbers but only by 0.2% (from 118,669 to 118,888, a difference of 219).    

Bailey, who will be facing Gov. J.B. Pritzker in the Nov. 8 election, lambasted his opponent for tightening laws on temporary employees like babysitters and caregivers. “The last thing we need in Illinois is more red tape, more rules and more regulations. If we want to grow our economy and be a leader for jobs and opportunities in the Midwest, we need to prioritize policies that will create jobs, not jeopardize the ones we have. Pritzker’s priorities are misguided. Silly bureaucratic rules won’t grow our economy. Families are wondering how to afford to gas up their cars and purchase basic household necessities and the focus of the Pritzker administration is making sure people fill out time sheets for their nannies? It is no wonder we are losing jobs and opportunities here in Illinois,” Bailey said, according to Prairie State Wire. 

Illinois has been seeing an exodus of corporate offices of many businesses. The most successful manufacturer of aircraft in the world, Boeing, announced its withdrawal from the area at the beginning of May, NBC 5 Chicago reported. The massive aerospace company, which was founded in Washington, relocated to Chicago in 2001. Nearly 16,000 jobs, or more than 10% of the  workforce of the company, were lost as a result of the epidemic.

Caterpillar announced on June 14 that its company headquarters would be relocated to Irving, Texas. The action, according to Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby, was in the greatest "strategic interest" of the business. In a statement, Caterpillar claimed that only the 230 workers at company headquarters will be impacted by the change.

Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities noted its move to Miami from Chicago was based on security concerns. “The firms are having difficulty recruiting top talent from across the world to Chicago given the rising and senseless violence in the city,” said Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman, told The New York Times. “Talent wants to live in cities where they feel safe. Griffin's business moved out of the state after funding Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin's gubernatorial primary race with $50 million.