Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Wednesday, Jun 21, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A 4.1 percent unemployment rate is setting their hair on fire…

With Illinois’ unemployment rate now tied for fourth worst in the country and the state having only added in the neighborhood of 2,500 jobs in May, Republican state Sen. Steve McClure says there have been warning signs for years.

“It shows that the attack against businesses by Gov. [J.B.] Pritzker and Democrats that has been going on for years is really taking a toll,” McClure told The Center Square. “Doing business is a struggle for many in this state and it’s not hard to see why that is.”

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the state’s overall unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% in May, down one-tenth of a percent from the month before, but McClure argues that hardly tells the story.

If they’re gonna focus on unemployment rates, I’ll note that the pro-business bastion of Texas has the same unemployment rate as Illinois. And while Illinois’ unemployment rate has declined during the last twelve months, Texas’ rate has risen.

Minnesota’s May rate was 2.9 percent, and they’re hardly a conservative outpost.

But, really, both Texas and Illinois are less than a half a point higher than the national average of 3.7 percent.

We have our troubles, for sure. But screaming about the inadequacy of what is essentially full employment seems silly to me.

* Now, scroll all the way to the bottom of the Center Square story…

“And there’s no relief in sight,” added McClure, noting that the grocery tax and a second gas tax are set to kick in on July 1.

Sen. McClure voted in favor of doubling the Motor Fuel Tax rate in 2019 and tying it to inflation. Last year, McClure voted against the BIMP but did vote to temporarily freeze the Motor Fuel Tax and lower the grocery tax by a percentage point. [Note change.]

17 Comments

Brown University study: Chicago is the most segregated city in America

Wednesday, Jun 21, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* WBEZ…

In terms of segregation between white and Black residents, Chicago is the most segregated city in America, according to data from Brown University.

Chicago’s white-Black dissimilarity index has declined from 90.61 in 1980 to 80.04 in 2020, according to the Brown University data. Dissimilarity index is a measurement of the percentage of either group, in a given pair, that would have to move in order for the two groups to be evenly distributed in any given area.

However, Chicago’s 2020 figure for white-Black segregation ranked first among all cities, of any size, for which data was available. Chicago has ranked first among big cities for decades — Cleveland had a higher mark in 1990 — but smaller cities have posted higher figures in previous years. […]

The Chicago-Naperville-Evanston metropolitan division, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as Cook, DuPage, Grundy, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois, ranked fifth. The Gary metropolitan division, which covers Jasper, Lake, Newton and Porter counties in northwest Indiana, ranked sixth. […]

Illinois ranked first among all states in the nation in the share of Black residents living in census tracts that are at least 90% Black, according to a WBEZ analysis of 2020 census data.

There’s more.

…Adding… Tribune…

When Walmart shuttered four Chicago stores in April, the closures set off a familiar pattern of dialogue across the city.

Residents of the majority-Black and Latino neighborhoods where three of the four shuttered stores were located worried the closures would make it harder for them to access affordable, fresh food. Elected officials, including then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot, slammed the abrupt nature of the closures, and questions emerged about whether Walmart had received government subsidies for opening stores in the city.

Walmart did not directly receive any tax incentives for the Chicago stores it closed. But two of the stores it shuttered, a Neighborhood Market grocery store in Grand Boulevard and a Supercenter in Chatham that also included a low-cost health clinic and a job training academy, were part of developments the city subsidized with tax increment financing dollars.

Public funds for both projects went to the sites’ developers. In both cases, the city required those developers to maintain certain levels or types of retail occupancy on their properties. But those requirements expired in December 2022. Months later, Walmart announced it would close the stores down.

21 Comments

« NEWER POSTS