Illinois' unemployment rate rose to 7.2% July 15, the 8th worst in the nation. At the same time employers are having trouble filling job vacancies. 

The average Illinoisan earns $55,770 a year at work.  If that person stayed home with their kids and collected unemployment, it would be $51,627.

Crunch the numbers another way and add federal stimulus, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce calculated an unemployed worker receives $35 an hour.

"In Illinois alone, there are tens of thousands of unfilled jobs. Employers are offering substantially higher wages, employment bonuses and taking other steps to encourage people to return to work," the chamber wrote in an open letter to Gov. J.B. Pritzker. "The problem is employers cannot compete with the approximate $35 per hour unemployed workers have received over the last four months as a result of enhanced UI benefits, tax credits, and stimulus payments."