(The Center Square) – Another 46,300 Illinoisans have filed for unemployment, and while that’s fewer than last week and than the weeks before, it brings the total to 1.3 million people filing for the benefit in Illinois, which could affect minorities and women the most.
Illinois Policy Institute Chief Economist Orphe Divounguy said while there were signs of economic slowdown leading up to the pandemic, the government’s reaction shutting down sectors of the economy to slow the spread of COVID-19 in mid-March began the snowball.
“People who lived in counties that were locked down suffered even deeper employment losses, even more serious employment losses,” Divounguy said. “In fact, the lockdowns across the country accounted for 60 percent, more than half the job losses.”
Black and Hispanic women had a 22 percent decline in employment each, or 1-in-5 women, Divounguy said.
“And this all really started when the governor of Illinois deemed some industries essential and other industries nonessential,” Divounguy said.
“The department has now processed 1,361,036 claims for unemployment benefits from March 1 through May 30,” said a statement from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. “This amount is nearly 11.5 times the number of claims the department processed over the same period last year, when IDES processed just 110,533 claims for regular unemployment benefits.”
Divounguy said the negative effects will linger for years and could be compounded if voters approve a progressive income tax this fall. He said that will lead to tax increases for small businesses willing to stick through the COVID-19 crisis.
“If they face higher taxes they will have a hard time bringing workers back on and that will disproportionately hurt the biggest losers, which are minorities who have suffered and they’ve suffered the biggest losses so far this year,” he said.
The longer unemployment numbers remain high, the tighter state coffers will get as it pays out benefits without taking in income taxes, Divounguy said.
“The department has paid more than $3.6 billion in unemployment benefits since March 1,” the IDES statement said.
