* An obviously understated problem explained by the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability in its latest revenue and economic forecasting report…

Perhaps a concern to the economy of Illinois and its financial recovery is the weekly earnings of the subsector of jobs seeing improvement. The “Education and Health Services” and the “Leisure and Hospitality” subsectors have seen the largest improvement in the number of jobs over the last decade but are two of the lowest subsectors in terms of weekly earnings. Equally troublesome is that those subsectors with the highest weekly earnings were the subsectors that have lost the most jobs.

For example, the subsector with the highest weekly earnings in CY 2010 was the construction subsector, paying, on average, $1,237 per week. However, construction jobs are down 26.5% since CY 2000. The second highest paying subsector is the “Information” subsector ($1,039 per week), but employment in this category is down 31.1% over the last 10 years. These statistics would suggest that although employment levels are improving in Illinois, the jobs being added appear to be lower paying jobs.

And here’s the chart…

* From a Sun-Times retrospective of the Daley administration’s scandals…

One of every five patronage workers on a secret clout list filed at least one worker’s compensation claim against the city, a Sun-Times analysis found. That incredibly high injury rate would make patronage work one of the most dangerous jobs in America.

* Rahm Emanuel on the city’s red tape problems…

…it took [Emanuel] five months to get a permit for a seven-month rehab of his family’s home.

       

6 Comments - wordslinger - Monday, May 9, 11 @ 7:05 am: –For example, the subsector with the highest weekly earnings in CY 2010 was the construction subsector, paying, on average, $1,237 per week.– That was the straw that stirred the drink during the wild and crazy mortgage era. Condo towers everywhere in the city, single-family homes everywhere else. - Bill - Monday, May 9, 11 @ 8:17 am: ==…it took [Emanuel] five months to get a permit for a seven-month rehab of his family’s home.== Oh. They must have red tape problems in DC too. - mokenavince - Monday, May 9, 11 @ 1:47 pm: The problems in getting permits is no joke. I cost’s small business a ton of money. Look at the numbers ,constructon is at a stand still and the beauracrats still don’t give a damn. 5 month’s for a permit , is quick by todays standards. The cost has skyrocketed because you can’t get a permit without an expediter,to wait in line. Thank you Mayor Daley. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, May 9, 11 @ 2:04 pm: Mokena: You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own set of facts. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of construction jobs in the Chicago region was pretty constant from 2000 - 2007: 177,000 give or take. Now, there are 112,000. What happened? Not changes in the permitting requirements in Chicago. What happened is the 2008 Recession, which completely dried up credit. Projects with funding finished, but developments that were planned were put on hold or fell through. My wife and I drove by a state-of-the-art funeral home this weekend with “Coming in Fall, 2010″ signs still up, surrounded by a construction fence with no workers in sight. I’m not suggesting that Chicago’s permitting rules shouldn’t be streamlined — they should — but we’ve got a surplus of commercial and residential property in Chicago and little credit available even if someone wanted to build. - wordslinger - Monday, May 9, 11 @ 2:34 pm: –What happened is the 2008 Recession, which completely dried up credit.– Until Lehman Bros. went down and announced the bubble had burst, there was a pretty sweet ride for the trades, certainly in the city, from my observation. The city bird could have been the crane, there were so many towers going up. The last-of-the-dive bar-and-grills that I like to hang out it in were packed to the gills with ironworkers getting some liquid courage at lunch before they went back up to catch those beams. Now, no cranes, a huge inventory of condos, mortgagees under water, and the dives are ghosttowns. Oh, I forgot, Alan Greenspan says we have to cut the deficit and save more money. Thanks, buddy. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Monday, May 9, 11 @ 3:27 pm: @wordslinger - Seasonally adjusted construction jobs peaked nationally in the summer of ‘07. By July ‘08, the U.S. was already down 500,000 construction jobs from the previous year, before Lehman Bros. But you’re right, there were a skyfull of cranes for a few years! Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.