Constructing a positive jobs outlook

Here's another good reason why Illinois should be eager to launch a capital construction program: It would put a lot of people to work at a time when unemployment is on the rise.

The last time the state made a huge investment in building or improving roads, bridges and schools, as well as in mass transit, was during the George Ryan administration, under Illinois FIRST. Some 200,000 construction jobs were created during the first five years of this infrastructure improvement program.

A similar burst in job creation now would be welcome, considering the statewide unemployment rate in August stood at 5.4 percent, a 0.9-point increase from the year before. Unemployment in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet reporting area was about the same as the statewide rate, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Not only would an infrastructure improvement plan create new jobs in construction. It would have spinoff benefits. Chicago Metropolis 2020, a regional planning organization, estimates that each $1 spent on regional mass transit gets back $1.21 in jobs saved, new jobs and in time saved by commuters.

True, the unemployment rate in Illinois is not skyrocketing. And a more careful analysis reveals that Illinois is, indeed, creating jobs. But not to the extent that it is meeting the demand for work by those who are unemployed. Keep in mind, too, that the manufacturing sector lost 4,600 jobs in the Chicago area over the last year.

Any increase in unemployment should provide motivation for review of what can be done to improve economic development in the state.

It starts with looking at the economic climate -- whether businesses like what they see in Illinois enough to move here, and whether existing businesses can thrive here.

The outlook is not good, according to the business community.

The Illinois Chamber of Commerce reports that from 2002 to 2006, corporate income taxes in Illinois grew by 73.5 percent. Franchise and business license taxes grew by 86.6 percent. Property taxes on business went up by 38.2 percent, and unemployment and workers compensation taxes went up by 53.5 percent.

Not exactly an invitation to do business in Illinois or stay in business in Illinois.

Certainly businesses have to pay their fair share of taxes and make wise use of tax breaks to create jobs or keep their work force in place. Nor should businesses benefit from loopholes that amount to nothing more than a tax dodge.

But the only ways jobs are created -- outside of government putting workers on the payroll through use of tax dollars -- is for businesses to grow and expand, thus creating new employment opportunities even as some of the resulting profits are plowed back into paychecks. Which in turn are used by workers to buy manufactured goods and services, further strengthening the economy.

This can't happen when, after taxes, there is barely enough left to make new investments in a company, let alone stay afloat.