Groupon partners with local company SmartDigital to offer daily deals and "Groupon Now!" offers via digital kiosks set up across the city. more ›

As if Groupon wasn't already in the news for all the wrong reasons... more ›

Ford reached an agreement with the UAW to invest more in its Chicago plant in the Hegewisch neighborhood. more ›

Gov. Pat Quinn says the state will lay off more than 1,900 state workers and close seven state facilities to help close the $313 million budget shortfall. more ›

With just one year left on her mortgage, she hit financial roadblocks, and now the the bank is breathing down her neck. more ›

The Tribune reported yesterday on yet another hurdle in finding gainful employment in today's economy - current employment as a job qualifier. more ›

Illinois Republican Representative Joe Walsh plans to sit out President Obama's speech on the economy next Thursday. ABC 7 Chicago reports Walsh will leave the Capitol a few hours before the President's address to a joint session of Congress and return on Friday. Walsh said in a statement he did not want to be a “prop” for the President and he “would rather come home and talk to people who really know what we need to do about job creation.” The tea party darling added that Obama is “abusing” his position as President by calling a joint session, saying “we reserve that for heads of states from dignitaries around the world and presidents in moments in crisis, and monumental moments.” more ›

So how's are stock markets reacting to the debt ceiling compromise? not so well. more ›

Remember that corporate tax hike and the hullabaloo that ensued? Well, things are still a bit up in the air, as Illinois lawmakers re-think their original plan. more ›

Some of Chicago's CEOs and executives are sitting pretty on top of the money pile. more ›

A study from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. They released a report today that shows one in every four renters nationally are spending up to one-half of their monthly income on rent and utilities. In Chicago that number increases to one out of every three renters. more ›

Chicagorealestatedaily.com is reporting that gourmet food market Fox & Obel is trying their damnedest to maintain their Streeterville digs, in which they're behind on rent. more ›

High-speed rail took another step to reality yesterday with the announcement yesterday of funding for a second phase of a line between Chicago and St. Louis. more ›

Two large labor organizations announced that they had reached agreements with key employers yesterday. At Peoria's Caterpillar, all seven of the United Auto Workers locals that represent some 6,000 hourly workers approved a six-year agreement which bargaining committee members said was “is as good as we’re going to get, this time.” more ›

Borders, the second-largest bookstore chain in the country, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today. It also looks like they'll be closing stores throughout the country as they work to restructure their debt. more ›

Despite the fact that the economy is beginning to turn around, the number of Illinois households receiving food stamps hit record levels in December, and local food pantries have also revealed that more people are asking for help. Last month, 857,282 households were enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--which is commonly known as food stamps--a figure that is up 12.7 percent from the previous year, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services via the Chicago Sun-Times. more ›

It looks like not only homeowners that are walking away from their homes when they get underwater on their mortgages. A new study released by the Woodstock Institute found that more mortgage lenders are walking away from homes as they realize they can't recoup the full costs of their investments. Some mortgage lenders are going so far as to not complete paperwork on foreclosure actions and filing them with the city. These abandoned homes, mainly in African American neighborhoods, could be costing the city up to $36 million. more ›

Although some were holding out hope that Christopher Nolan's sequel to The Dark Knight would do some filming in Chicago, ReelChicago.com is being cited by many as saying that, when filming begins this year, Detroit will fill in for Chicago. But take that with a grain of salt. more ›

The vacant prison in Thomson, Illinois could stay vacant for quite some time now. The prison went up for auction yesterday, but no one showed up to bid on it. more ›

With the state legislature ready to debate and vote on major casino expansion when they return to Springfield next month to complete their lame duck session, they may have public opinion in their favor. more ›

Admit it. You've probably sent out a mass e-mail, made a facebook update, tweeted or sent an e-holiday card. It's not uncommon these days. A research firm said that Christmas card sales declined 0.4 percent last year. It may not seem like a slight dropoff, but the research firm Mintel Evidence group says that it's part of growing evidence that the next generation will not be heading out to buy cards and stamps. more ›

Last week the House voted to raise the retirement age to receive a full pension to 55 for police and fire departments. In conjunction with the House vote, the Illinois State Police was granted authority to offer severance packages to officers retiring before the end of the year. Rich Miller at Capitol Fax reports that anyone accepting the package will receive 6% cost of living raises for 2011 on their last day of work. more ›

Congress let extending benefits for the unemployed slide by this week, failing to approve measures that would aid over 2 million jobless Americans. Soon enough, some 127,000 Illinoisians could feel an even harder pinch in an already grim economy. more ›

McDonald's continues to give its stockholders reason to squeal. The Oak Brook-based company saw its profits for the third quarter increase by 10 percent, exceeding expectations and outpacing the company's performance for the same time frame last year. more ›

A few weeks ago, we posted about how Wrigley Field's rooftop businesses were struggling. Now, the AP has picked up on the story and provided the photo evidence of the lackluster crowds. Of course, putting a bad team on the field doesn't help matters. more ›

Among the many things that Labor Day traditionally signifies in the United States - the end of summer, busting out the black loafers - Labor Day has also signified the traditional beginning of the campaign season. And while congressional GOP leadership have been acting like the campaign season is in full swing of late, President Barack Obama used the bully pulpit of the presidency to kick-off campaign season Monday. For the president's supporters, it's been a rough summer, with what looked two years ago like the chance to change the world dwindling to a forced march to November, a fading hope that a Democratic majority might be retained, at least in the Senate. It was gainst that backdrop, at Milwaukee, WI's Laborfest, the same location Obama kicked off his final run to the 2008 presidential election, that the president announced part of his latest economic package. more ›

The iconic Allerton Hotel, located at 701 N. Michigan Ave., is in foreclosure after its owners defaulted on $70 million in loans. A foreclosure lawsuit was filed at the end of April. The joint venture that owns the hotel purchased it for $84 million in 2006 and sank another $10 million into renovations. But in December, the hotel was appraised as being worth $60 million and revenue fell 23 percent from its 2008 totals, bringing in only $16.9 million in 2009. more ›

The economy may be in the early stages of a slow turn-around (right? RIGHT?), but state unemployment crept up ever so slightly in March. The Illinois Department of Employment Security announced a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 11.5 percent for last month, up from 11.4 percent in February. If there's a silver lining, it's that 3,000 more jobs were added in March, the third straight month of job increases. [Crain's] more ›

The economy's still in the slow, beginning stages of recovery and another sign of that is the rise in downtown office space vacancies. According to Crain's, the overall vacancy rate downtown for the first quarter of 2010 was 17.1 percent, up from 13.3 percent during the same time last year and the highest since early 2006. But there's still reason for hope. more ›

Ford Motor Company announced on Friday that it will build the new 2011 Police Interceptor at the automaker's Torrence Ave plant, on Chicago's South side. Ford expects to offer the new vehicle without interruption when it discontinues production of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, which is built in St. Thomas, Ontario in late 2011. Ford's Police Interceptor redesign was driven by tough new federal rollover requirements, something the Crown Vic couldn't meet. Selling a hot new police car to municipalities strapped for cash, though, might be a tough sell. more ›