Illinois job openings are down by more than 100,000 since September.

Illinois ended 2025 with nearly 302,000 people unemployed. Job openings are down by 100,000 since September 2025.

Illinois lost a net 1,700 jobs in 2025 while the United States as a whole added 584,000. The hardest hit sectors in the state were retail trade, which lost 17,600 positions, and manufacturing, which shed 9,300 jobs.

It was harder for workers in Illinois to find a job than in most other states. There were 1.4 unemployed workers for every job opening, the 7th highest ratio in the nation. This reveals a fundamental weakness: Illinois isn’t creating enough job openings to offer sufficient opportunities to its unemployed workforce.

Illinois’ workforce shrank by almost 109,000 people from December 2024 to December 2025. Illinois’ labor force participation rate, which measures the percentage of people working or looking for work, fell to 63.6% in December. It was 65.3% in December 2024. The state’s ratio of unemployed workers per job opening would have been worse if so many workers had not left the workforce over the previous 12 months.

Illinois needs comprehensive reforms to address its struggling labor force:

These policy changes would remove barriers limiting economic growth and help Illinois provide more workers with the opportunities they need.

The Bears appear to be playing Indiana and Illinois against each other as they attempt to get state taxpayers’ help in building a new stadium. And today the Bears appear to be heading toward Indiana.

After the team and the governor of Indiana both put out statements saying they’re making progress on an agreement to build a stadium, the Illinois governor’s office put out a statement saying that was news to Illinois.

Matt Hill, a spokesman for Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, wrote on social media that as recently as yesterday, the Bears were representing to Illinois that things were heading in the right direction to pass a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would keep the team in the state.

“Illinois was ready to move this bill forward,” Hill wrote. “After a productive three hour meeting yesterday, the Bears leaders requested the ILGA pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois.”

The Bears have attempted to get taxpayer support to remain in Illinois, either with a new stadium at the same site as Soldier Field, or in the suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, about 30 miles away. The proposed stadium site in Hammond, Indiana, is about 20 miles away.