Near 1,000 manufacturing jobs lost in DuPage County in 2019

In 2019, Illinois had lost more than 130,000 manufacturing sector jobs. DuPage County alone lost 956 jobs. These job losses occurred before COVID-19 pandemic but, according to the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI), this was still the nation’s third-worst decline in payrolls for the manufacturing industry – behind only Idaho and South Dakota.

The progressive tax measure is set to be voted on in the November ballot and opponents of it are warning that the state and DuPage County will lose more jobs if the tax is passed. In 2019, the state’s unemployment rate was at its lowest level in history but it doesn’t necessarily mean for a positive reason. Instead, Illinois residents were giving up on their job searches or leaving the state.

According to the IPI, things don’t look like they’re getting better. Experts are predicting a 30 percent unemployment rate with the COVID-19 crisis. This figure means that 131,853 DuPage County individuals could lose their jobs. According to growing voices, the state is in a financial mess and if Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “fair tax” is approved by voters in the November election it’s likely to get even messier.

Earlier this year, in his state of the state address, Pritzker had spoken about his progressive income tax. He remained adamant that his tax proposal will affect the state’s top income earners and cut taxes for 97 percent of residents. However, according to the IPI, a typical middle-income family living in DuPage County can expect to pay a bill of $3,500.

DuPage could lose even more jobs than it already sustained if the progressive tax goes through. The institute estimated, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the county could lose 39,000 jobs, and 286,000 statewide if the Pritzker’s fair tax plan goes through in November.