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Things really are getting better here

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Illinois

* From Sarah Leiseca at the Pew Charitable Trusts…

Rich,

The Pew Charitable Trusts’ “Fiscal 50” interactive today updated its 50-state personal income data. The latest figures show that states have benefited unevenly from the nation’s long-running economic expansion. Personal income in all states is higher than before the Great Recession, even though a handful of state economies faltered at the end of 2015.

Adjusted for inflation, personal income in 21 states has expanded faster than in the nation as a whole since the start of the recession. Only in mid-2015 did the final state—Nevada—recover its personal-income losses and return to its pre-recession level.

In the latest year of this post-recession expansion, personal income in all but six states – Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming – continued to make gains.

Click here to see the charts.

* If you sort by growth rate since the Great Recession, Illinois finishes second to last, ahead of only Nevada.

However, if you sort by growth rate over the past year, Illinois is 16th best.

* Blue is growth rate since the recession, green is the 2015 growth rate…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:03 pm

Comments

That can’t be right all that growth rate in Illinois without any of the Turnaround Agenda? The data must be wrong! s/

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:23 pm
“* If you sort by growth rate since the Great Recession, Illinois finishes second to last, ahead of only Nevada.”

Rich, why is IL having more problems recovering from the recession than other states? What is holding IL back?

Comment by Mama Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:27 pm
We are ahead of Iowa, Indiana, and Wisconsin. All without the “turnaround agenda”.

Comment by DuPage Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:27 pm
So yet another confirmation the BigBrain plan ain’t needed….maybe he could do a P3 with the loser states (most who have losses due to the collapse of frackin’)

Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:28 pm
Do commenters have any reason why the growth rate improved so much over the past year compared to years before?

This is a large and rapid improvement. Why?

Comment by Formerly Known As... Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:30 pm
2015 il(union) and mi (union) had greater growth then nonunion IA and WI

Comment by Ghost Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:34 pm
I am sure everyone will jump to conclusions and point to the 2015 growth rate in personal income as a reason why Illinois does not need any business friendly turn around agendas. The numbers from the recession putting us just ahead of Nevada and at 49th place are pretty unnerving. Nevada’s growth in 2015 may allow it to pull ahead of Illinois if it continues this year. Will that make us dead last in growth when the next poll is taken?

Perhaps the recent personal income growth in Illinois is from the existence of a pro-growth, pro-business Governor who doesn’t mince any words on these subjects?

Fire away. I’m wearing my flack jacket today!

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:37 pm
The lower you’ve fallen, the more room for growth that you have. A healthy economy will sustain it. Poor business environments won’t. Illinois had one good year of growth, our neighbors have had better 7 years of growth. Is this a trend? Doubtful. What manufacturing is left is leaving to Mexico and other states, financial services and the big banks have left and become “too big to fail” elsewhere, and the job growth only seems to be in marketing services that require only short term commitment and can bail out easily when the fiscal malfeasance of the state and Chicago governments finally hits the fans.

Comment by Zonker Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:38 pm
===This is a large and rapid improvement===

Yes, and it began in earnest in 2014.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:41 pm
Here’s my gut instinct answer Mama. I know that the Ag Manufacturing sector (Caterpillar, John Deere)is only recently showing improvement, Tech starting picking up big last year, along with financial and professional services. It shows that 2015 was really the first true recovery year for us. I think it has to do with the sectors that we depend on. But also I see a lot more multiple jobs going on. Sure if you’re working 2 jobs your personal income is going to go up. However that also means more social problems being ignore which if unaddressed will eat our lunch later.

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:46 pm
Spin zone view….it must be because Rauner was elected, and to spin it further “we could have been number 1 if the turnaround had passed”.

Comment by illinifan Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:52 pm
Believing that an Illinois governor can take credit for our economic growth is like believing that Colorado’s mountains look more majestic because of their Governor.

We’re Illinois dammit. It’s what we are and do.

Rauner needs to govern and let us be Illinois for a change. His deliberate sandbagging is wrecking us. Govern Governor! Try, at least.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 12:58 pm
This shows we don’t need much of the turnaround agenda. We can perhaps pass more workers comp reform but we don’t need a radical economic policy overhaul.

Kansas is reeling from its so-called trickle down economic experiment. How long and how much damage has to be done before it is scrapped?

I posted this early today, in yesterday’s posts. It may be worth another look.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kansas-lawmakers-lose-patience-governors-tax-cuts-055057812.html

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 1:04 pm
Rauner hasn’t proposed lowering the income tax, has he?

Comment by Tone Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 1:21 pm
Any growth Illinois has seen is probably from the ridiculous amount of money that’s been pumped into political races.

Comment by CharlieKratos Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 1:40 pm
Rauner needs to govern and let us be Illinois for a change. His deliberate sandbagging is wrecking us. Govern Governor! Try, at least.

Try what? We should just continue doing what we’ve done for the last 30 years? That turned out just swell.

Comment by Tone Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 1:41 pm
The only accurate comparison to Kansas is that the GA majority allowed the tax increase to expire when they had a democrat governor and that is what’s really causing Illinois Kansas-like crisis. Saying Rauner is like Brownback is wrong. Rauner has clearly said he would support some sort of tax increase. Yes, it comes with his TA or more likely just some pieces of the TA. But no, Madigan cannot give Rauner a supposed “win”. Again, it’s always the political calculation, not what’s going to help the citizens of the state.

Comment by Nick Danger Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 3:01 pm
We still ended with a net tax increase. The rate had been 3%. It’s now 3.75%.

Comment by Tone Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 3:57 pm
==We still ended with a net tax increase. The rate had been 3%. It’s now 3.75%.==

It would really be nice if you had a point to make rather than doing random drive-by comments.

Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Apr 19, 16 @ 4:08 pm