
By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD– The financial picture for Illinois is pretty good, as we enter a new year.
The University of Illinois’ Flash index ticked up from 105.4 in November to 105.6 in December. Study author and economics professor Fred Giertz says the greater than 100, the greater the economic growth for Illinois.
“It denotes a good year overall, characterized by quite a bit of stability,” Giertz says. “The state ended the year on a high note, with strong readings from all three components of the index: the income tax, the corporate tax, and the retail sales tax.”
Giertz says it caps a decade in which unemployment has gone from more than eleven percent to less than four.