Lake County Gazette

Illinois' unemployment rate ranked second to last in the country for the month of December, with only the state of Nevada faring worse.

"We should be a leader in growing job opportunities for our residents," state Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) said in a recent Facebook post. "We have the resources, but our state's high taxes and bad public policies drive employers away. We have to be more competitive to get innovators and job creators to invest in Illinois."

With an overall unemployment rate of 4.7% for the month of December, the state of Illinois' rate stands significantly higher than that of all its neighboring states as well as the national average of 3.5%, WGN reported recently. Illinois' unemployment rate was second-highest in the nation, coming in below only Nevada.

Illinois now also ranks as the second-highest state from which residents are fleeing, according to a survey by moving company United Van Lines; a recent Illinois Policy report said. The survey found that people moving out of Illinois made up 63.8% of total migration, meaning that only 36.2% of those moving were headed into the state. Only New Jersey had a higher outbound percentage at 66.8%.