CHICAGO, November 5 (RIA Novosti), Ella Wojt - High unemployment rates in Illinois are "ridiculous" and caused by political corruption, Chicago residents voting in the mid-election on Tuesday told RIA Novosti.
One voter, who requested to remain anonymous, told RIA Novosti that the state's natural resources, central location, top universities and sports affiliations should amount to numerous employment opportunities, but "political hacks, pension problems, and corruption" have greatly damaged the job market.
The voter went on to say that the state's corruption is difficult to combat since politicians have the power to make "unfair taxes and financial decisions" legal.
If re-elected, current democratic governor Pat Quinn plans to increase the minimum wage to $10.00 from $8.25 in the state to ease the unemployment situation. Voters told RIA Novosti that the increase will not make a significant difference since "very few people work for minimum wage and those who do usually make some extra cash on the side."
Voters claim transparency in the budget and financial decisions are the first steps towards solving the employment problem.
According to US Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the national unemployment rate for September 2014 was 5.9 percent. Illinois had an unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in September while Georgia had the highest unemployment rate at 7.9 percent and North Dakota the lowest at 2.8 percent.
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