{"id":2444291,"date":"2025-06-07T13:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T17:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-places-last-in-the-country-for-economic-health-study-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T13:39:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T17:39:36","slug":"illinois-places-last-in-the-country-for-economic-health-study-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-places-last-in-the-country-for-economic-health-study-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois places last in the country for economic health: Study &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fillinois-places-last-in-the-country-for-economic-health-study-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2444291&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A recent study by WalletHub reveals that Illinois ranks last in the United States for economic health, placing 40th overall in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-finds-errors-in-cdc-covid-19-fatality-reports\/\" title=\"... finds errors in CDC COVID-19 fatality reports\">state economies<\/a>. The research evaluated Illinois based on factors such as economic activity, health, and innovation potential, utilizing 28 metrics including GDP growth and high-tech job distribution. Illinois ranked poorly in several categories: 48th for changes in nonfarm payrolls, 41st for overall economic activity, and it faces challenges like high foreclosure rates and a notable unemployment rate of 4.8%. Comparatively, Massachusetts boasts the best <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-york-businesses-now-fleeing-to-florida\/\" title=\"New York Businesses Now Fleeing To Florida\">state economy<\/a>, while Iowa has been evaluated as the worst. Forecasts suggest that Illinois will continue to lag behind both its regional peers and national trends in economic performance through 2025.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Illinois places last in the country for economic health: Study<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2141948\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>(The Center Square) &mdash;<\/strong> A new study paints a bleak picture of the economic health of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/Illinois\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Illinois<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The personal finance website WalletHub has released its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/wallethub.com\/edu\/states-with-the-best-economies\/21697\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">findings<\/a>&nbsp;of the best and worst state economies.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3431262\/steel-tariffs-will-not-work-this-time-either\/\">Steel tariffs won&#8217;t work this time, either<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3432996\/tesla-stock-tanks-ceo-elon-musk-publicly-feuds-trump\/\">Tesla stock tanks as&nbsp;CEO&nbsp;Musk publicly rips into Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/business\/3431495\/dc-council-pauses-next-step-initiative-82-minimum-wage-increase\/\">DC Council pauses next step in Initiative 82 minimum wage increase<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Researcher Chip Lugo said Wallethub used three economic categories including economic activity, economic health and innovation potential.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Then we applied 28 relevant metrics, and those run everything from GDP growth, start-up activity and share of jobs in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-anti-china-bill-encourages-hiring-of-chinese-scientists\/\" title=\"House anti-China Bill Encourages Hiring of Chinese Scientists\">high-tech industries<\/a>,&rdquo; said Lugo.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Overall, the study ranked Illinois 40th for its state economy but dead last in the economic health category.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Fifty-one out of 50 states and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/washington-dc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Washington, D.C.<\/a>,&rdquo; said Lugo. &ldquo;A number of things Illinois did not fare well in that particular dimension.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Illinois ranked 48th in change in nonfarm payrolls, 41st in economic activity, and scored poorly for high foreclosure rates and the state&rsquo;s unemployment rate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Illinois&rsquo; unemployment rate is 4.8%, one of the highest in the country, and is in the top-10 for states with the biggest increases in unemployment claims.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The study found that Massachusetts has the best state <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">economy<\/a> while Iowa has the worst.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The &ldquo;State of Illinois Economic Forecast&rdquo; from Moody Analytics released in February showed some dark clouds on the horizon.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3320030\/federal-workers-ordered-return-work-no-office-space\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>FEDERAL WORKERS ORDERED TO RETURN TO WORK TO FIND THEMSELVES OFFICELESS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Illinois will underperform the region and the U.S. in 2025, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/crescendo-may-not-be-the-final-note-1b-in-additional-revenue-projected\/\" title=\"The crescendo is not the end; an extra  billion in revenue is expected\">gross state product<\/a>, employment, and income increasing less than elsewhere,&rdquo; the report&rsquo;s summary said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;A <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >strong state economy doesn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t guarantee success for the state&rsquo;s residents, but it certainly makes financial success more attainable,&rdquo; said Lugo. &ldquo;The best state economies encourage growth by being friendly to new businesses and investing in new technology that will help the state deal with future challenges.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2141948\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2141948\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Illinois ranks last in the nation for economic health, study finds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2869,"featured_media":2444292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/minimum-wage-and-money.jpg.optimal.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[52781,6413,13666,4866,32076],"class_list":["post-2444291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-economic-health","tag-illinois","tag-rankings","tag-study","tag-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/minimum-wage-and-money.jpg.optimal.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2444291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2444295,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2444291\/revisions\/2444295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2444292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2444291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2444291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2444291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}