Illinois ranks 45th in the nation in job growth, report says

Oct. 29--Illinois ranks 45th in the nation in job growth, according to a report published Tuesday by Arizona State University.

Employers have created more than 2.4 million jobs through September, an increase of less than 2 percent from the same period last year. While all states have chipped in for those jobs, some states' job growth rates are rising faster than others.

Lee McPheters, a research professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, said some big states, like Illinois, are growing at a rate below the national average and thus are lagging behind.

Overall, the entire country is seeing slow growth, McPheters said. Economists would like to see job growth at 3.5 to 4 percent, but gross domestic product is expected to grow at about 2 percent this year, which means that job growth will be modest, too.

"You can't have jobs exploding and economic output not growing at a fast rate," he said.

Illinois added 36,000 jobs in the first three quarters of the year, but the increase amounts to a growth of less than 1 percent from last year. Similarly, Texas has added more than 360,000 jobs, but that's only an increase of 2.24 percent from last year, according to the report.

Leading the list of job creators is North Dakota, which is benefiting from an oil and gas boom. The state has added more than 20,000 jobs, an increase of nearly 5 percent from last year.

At the bottom of the list is Alaska, which has added a few hundred jobs, or an increase of 0.08 percent from last year.

acancino@tribune.com

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