Quinn Touts New Jobs, But Illinois Lags Behind 2 Neighboring States
(CBS) – Another day brings another announcement of new jobs for Illinois.
Gov. Pat Quinn on Tuesday made his case that he is a job creator, but CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine puts the governor's numbers to the test.
Quinn, a Democrat seeking re-election Nov. 4, is trying to make the most of recent successes, such as Tuesday's announcement that mega-retailer Amazon is coming to Illinois.
"Our economy is growing, we're No. 1 in the Midwest at growing jobs in the past month," Quinn said, standing before a group of those enrolled in Illinois' job-training programs
Quinn noted that 500 new jobs were announced Monday at another company; 1,000 jobs were announced for the Amazon project.
His opponent, Republican Bruce Rauner, called the Quinn job announcements a mirage.
And in fact, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the unemployment rate, when Pat Quinn took office in January of 2009, stood at 8 percent in Illinois, compared 8.9 percent in Indiana and 7.1 percent in Wisconsin.
Today, it is 6.6 percent here, compared to 5.7 percent in both Indiana and Wisconsin.
During that time, Illinois gained fewer jobs -- just 4,000 -- compared to 81,000 in Indiana and 16,000 in Wisconsin.
The work force has shrunk everywhere because so many people have either left or stopped looking for work.
Illinois lost more – 96,000 workers -- compared to 20,000 in Indiana and 33,000 in Wisconsin. Four years ago, a similar campaign endgame saw Pat Quinn at events for groundbreakings and labor rallies, making similar promises.
The Quinn camp argues that Illinois faced a much tougher recovery than other states. But from when Quinn took office to today, it's clear we're behind the rest of the Midwest.
A spokesman for the governor concedes we've got more work to do, but we're heading in the right direction. Quinn on Wednesday will unveil another job creator, a $2 billion fertilizer plant downstate.
