By Cole Lauterbach/Illinois Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – More Illinois job seekers have given up looking for work than those in other states.

A poll done for Express Employment Professionals shows 44 percent of Illinois job seekers they polled had given up on the search. The national poll done in March and April shows a third of job seekers nationwide say the same thing.

Bob Funk, CEO of Express Employment Professionals and a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said Illinois’ higher portion of job seekers without hope for work is troubling.

“In Illinois, the number of unemployed who say they have given up is on the rise year-over-year, while it’s declining nationally,” Fund said in a news release. “Economic and political factors unique to Illinois may be at play here.”

Corporate developer Patrick Dolan said Illinois’ businesses are nervous about whether they can afford new hires.

“It puts pressure on employers who know we have massive bills to pay and worry about the consequences of that down the road,” Dolan said.

Dolan’s offices are constantly losing employers who pack up and move to neighboring states, he said.

“They’re raiding our businesses,” Dolan said. “Every year, I have several of my franchise owners that come to me saying clients are shutting down and moving to a neighboring state. I mean, pick a state. They all seem to be better situations for businesses to compete.”

Among the reasons businesses cite for either moving out of Illinois or reducing hiring are the state’s high taxes and workers’ compensation costs, as well as overly burdensome regulations.

Dolan’s said his employment agencies in Chicago have trouble with non-experienced applicants fresh out of high school who won’t take jobs for less than $10 an hour.

The state’s employment rate in April was 4.7 percent, still higher than the national average.