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 ›

The Sun-Times pending printing plant layoffs leads a group of local companies handing out layoff notices. more ›

Here's a lesson in How Not To Thank Your Former Employer: a 21 year-old hospital employee in Evanston punched his boss in the face after he was told he was being laid off. The incident, as reported by the police to the Sun-Times, seemed rather intense:

"When they notified him of his pending non-employment, he became physically combative, and at that point, he punched his supervisor in the face and ribs, causing him to fall to the ground," Evanston Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther said. "Once he [the supervisor] was on the ground, he then stepped on his face before being stopped by hospital security staff."

McDonald's has been getting some traction in the news cycles regarding its nationwide job search today. The Oakbrook-headquartered company is looking to hire 50,000 people to jobs ranging from restaurant crew members to salaried management today. (Here is a list of McDonald's 1,500 open job availabilities in the Chicago area.) more ›

The recently leaked letter from Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman to Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has been making the rounds around the state, lending itself to a lot of bloviating and freaking out by those who are generally nervous about the future jobs outlook in Illinois. If you're not up to speed on this drama, Oberhelman sent Quinn a letter last week, which was leaked to the press, telling the Illinois governor that he's been courted by other states, to move the company's headquarters out of it's East Peoria home. In spite of the outcry by local politicians (like Peoria's congressman, Aaron Schock), Oberhelman has been pretty upfront with Quinn that he's not threatening to move the company out of state, so much as he's offering to work with Quinn as an ambassador from the business community to find ways to solve the state's fiscal problems while maintaining Illinois's competitive edge among manufacturers. more ›

Although the economy is still much in its recovery phase, the unemployment level in the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area dropped to 8.6 percent in December. While Chicago Business reports that overall unemployment declined to 8.8 percent in Illinois, the official report from the Illinois Department of Economic Security indicates that the level of unemployment is currently at 9.3 percent. Whatever the state-wide unemployment level is, the unemployment rate is on a declining trend. more ›

On the heels of last night's official state visit at the White House, Chinese President Hu Jintao continues his four-day tour of the states with today's stop in the Windy City. The visit marks Hu's first to Chicago and only one outside of Beltway where he spent yesterday meeting (and eating) with President Obama and other leaders while discussing trade deals, human rights and the economic ties that bind the US to China. more ›

Remember last month when City Council was considering giving retail giant Costco a $1 million tax break over the next 12 years to build a Costco in the Medical District at 14th and Ashland? The tax deal was approved, only the tax break is larger than projected. more ›

Rather than put a complete end to the Put Illinois To Work Program, Governor Quinn signed a law yesterday using it. Effective immediately, employers who hire a former trainee from the program before June 30, 2011 will receive a $2,500 tax credit. The credit is also available to small businesses with fewer than 50 total employees. Businesses hiring from the Put Illinois To Work program can claim half the $2,500 within six months of the hire and the rest after a full year. more ›

Amid the hullabaloo over the state income tax hike, the state Senate approved a bill that will force Illinois residents to buy roughly a quarter of their heating gas from Power Holdings of Illinois LLC, which is planning a large coal gasification plant in downstate Jefferson County. more ›

Looking for a job? Willing to work nights and get to see the city? Maybe writing parking tickets is for you. more ›

Gov. Quinn made his Put Illinois to Work program a focal point of his election campaign. Faced with hard numbers of its success, Quinn now said that he'll end the program in mid-January. more ›

Reprising a favorite song and dance when looking to give big businesses a tax break, Mayor Daley is pushing for a 12-year tax break worth $1 million to land a second Costco at 14th and Ashland, arguing that the jobs that will be brought to the city will offset the lost revenue from the tax break. more ›

The Illinois House passed legislation Tuesday that authorized the construction of a plant that would produce synthetic natural gas (seriously, am I the only one that thinks that sounds like an oxymoron?). The bill would have required Illinois suppliers to purchase a portion of the plants production, which makes fuel from Illinois coal and petroleum refinery waste. Yesterday the state Senate put the brakes on the bill, holding it up in the Senate Executive Committee, and legislators saying the bill won't be considered until the General Assembly returns to its lame duck session in January. more ›

Amid the flurry of legislation debated and voted on, plans to build a synthetic natural gas plant on the city's South side cleared the state House of Representatives. The $3 billion plant, which will be built at 11600 S. Burley Ave. at an abandoned steel site on the Calumet River is expected to produce as much as eight percent of the state's natural gas, create 1,200 construction jobs and 200 permanent jobs at the facility. People's Gas, as well as consumer advocates, however, say that the project will end up being a bad deal for rate payers in Illinois, raising future rates in Chicago and especially in the northern suburbs. more ›

The State Journal-Register is reporting that three new coal mines are set to open next year in Illinois, in response to increasing demand domestically. more ›

Walker's opposition to the rail project could have direct consequences on employment in Wisconsin, however. Spanish train-builder Patentes Talgo, which is building two cars for the existing Amtrak Hiawatha line, is being courted by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who has embraced the federal funding to upgrade rail service in the Midwest. Talgo has said that if Wisconsin doesn't change its mind about funding for rail, the company will leave no later than 2012, after delivering two trains that it has committed to build for the state of Oregon. more ›

Speaking at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources office in downstate Benton, Governor Pat Quinn announced the opening of a new coal mine that will bring over 600 news jobs to the area - 300 in construction and 350 in production. The White Oak Mine #1, operated by White Oak Resources LLC, is the first of four mines that are expected to open in the area. "We know the people of Southern Illinois know how to do a mining job better than anyone else on the planet," Quinn told the crowd of locals and reporters gathered for the announcement. more ›

Governor Quinn will extend the Put Illinois to Work for up to two more months. The program, which has managed to put 26,000 people to work at more than 5,000 public and private sector employers, is set to expire September 30th. Governor Quinn plans to spend $75 million to keep the program running until Congress votes on an extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Contingency Fund. more ›

According to Crain's Chicago Business, the state of Illinois has caulked and weatherized more than 30 percent of the homes it plans to insulate this year, thanks to grants from the Department of Energy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to DOE the program supported nearly 600 jobs in Illinois. more ›

The news around Mark Kirk's apparent flip-flop over his vote against $26 billion in aid to keep teachers in classrooms and cops on the street got a little thicker yesterday. To wit, Kirk, who was for the jobs bill before he was against it, said in a statement that he voted against the bill because it added $5 billion to the federal deficit. Rich Miller at Capitol Fax explained the issue in depth, getting to the heart of Kirk's reasoning behind his vote. The Congressional Budget Office, which scores the estimated cost of congressional spending, found that the bill would reduce the deficit by $1.4 billion over ten years. When analyzed in the context of the Pay as You Go statute, which was enacted in 1990 and requires that all increases in direct spending or decreases in revenue generation are to be offset with other spending cuts or revenue hikes, that portion of the CBO analysis says that the bill actually adds $12.6 billion to the deficit. But that, too comes with a caveat: "Excludes savings in Titles II and III that would result from changes to programs and rescissions of funds previously designated as emergency, which total about $14 billion over the 2010-2020 period." Which, in short, says that the increase in the deficit doesn't take into account $14 billion in savings from other cuts and spending reductions - exactly what supporters of the bill had agreed to do to ensure its passage. more ›

It seems like he might be. That's because yesterday Congress sent a $26 billion jobs bill to President Obama's desk in an emergency session, passing the House on a 247-to-161 vote, largely along party lines. The bill, which provides funding to help avoid teacher layoffs while also funding positions for police, firefighters and nurses nationally, includes $10 billion for teacher positions and $16 billion to help cover state Medicaid payments. Kirk had said as recently as Monday that he would support the bill. “I'm inclined to vote for that legislation,” Kirk told the Sun-Times. “As a Republican moderate, my view is we should not add to the deficit. This legislation does make a number of cuts. ... that make it deficit-neutral. And it would keep teachers in the classroom.” more ›

Ford Motor Company, which has an assembly plant on Chicago's South side and a stamping plant in Ford Heights, unveiled the new Ford Explorer Monday afternoon with much fanfare. While the launch of the newly redesigned Ford Explorer has been anticipated among car aficionados for some time, the big story in Chicago is the employment impact building the car here will have on the local economy. Ford will be adding 1,200 workers to it's local payroll to handle production, which is expected to start in November. Mayor Daley, poet laureate of the City of Big Shoulders, summed it up to Crain's, saying “New jobs are being created. Overtime is being created... In America, people want a job.” Echoing that sentiment, Bill Ford Jr., executive chairman and great-grandson of founder Henry Ford said that while his company has experienced four quarters of growth, he's still feeling cautious about the market. “Overall, the car market isn’t as healthy as it was two years ago. So far in July, though, early sales look good,” he told the Sun-Times, adding that “we’ve got to get the economy moving again for all of our sakes.” more ›

Yesterday we took a look at the progress of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, opinions of which predictably split along party lines. Illinois’ Republican Congressman Aaron Schock has a new bone to pick with the stimulus - signage. According to the Chicago Tribune, a spokesman for IDOT reported that about 950 signs have been posted along roadways to inform people that the roadwork was funded by the stimulus bill. Calling it “propaganda” and an “unnecessary overhead expense,” Schock introduced a bill titled "End the Stimulus Advertisement Act” to put an end to the signs. more ›

The White House Council of Economic Advisers issued its fourth report on impacts of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (you can read a PDF of the report here). The report details some of the positive elements of the federal spending act, designed to kickstart the economy in the wake of the 2008 economic collapse, including 3.6 million jobs that were saved or created through the second quarter of 2010, exceeding the president's goals by six months. The report also estimated that as of this year's second quarter the Recovery Act boosted the gross domestic product between 2.7 and 3.2 percent, in line with Congressional Budget Office estimates. And the council noted that for every $1 in federal spending the private sector is investing $3 into the economy. more ›

Just a year out of bankruptcy, Chrysler Group LLC is set to add 500,000 square feet to its Belvidere, Illinois plant. The space is expected to be used for a larger body shop in the plant that currently produces the Dodge Caliber. Mayor Fred Brereton says the announcement means that the plant will be both competitive, and around for awhile. "They estimated 200,000 hours of construction, so when you equate that into payroll it's going to be significant," Brereton told WTVO news. more ›

Omron Automotive Electrics Inc., is shifting production from its Toronto, Ontario plant to its St. Charles, Illinois plant, taking advantage of both the weaker U.S. dollar and the Illinois plant's proximity to GM and Ford plants. “Both our Canadian and St. Charles facilities have been operating at low capacity, so consolidation into just one made sense,” Omron’s Canada-based human resources director Dawn Hoffman told Crain's. “With the strong dollar here [in Canada], we’ve lost a ton of manufacturing in Canada. It makes it very difficult to produce here for export.” Omron will add 250 jobs to the 300 jobs already at the St. Charles plant. The semi-skilled positions, which are non-union, will pay between $12 and $15 an hour, plus benefits, and Omron plans to use temporary hires to fill the initial gaps in the local workforce. The Japanese-owned auto-parts company makes switches for electric seats and windows for GM and Ford vehicles. 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 ›

Back in February 9th Ward Alderman Anthony Beale announced to the Chicago media that he had the votes lined up to bring Chicago's second Wal-Mart store into his South side ward. The store, which is intended to be part of the Pullman Park development on the old Ryerson Steel site between 103rd and 111th streets, next to the Dan Ryan Expressway, will feature a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which includes a grocery store. "I'm confident I have the votes. I'm floating around 34 or 35," Beale told Fran Spielman at the Sun-Times. At the time, Beale was expecting the Chicago Plan Commission to vote on the proposal at its March 18th meeting, and have the development before the council in April. The development wasn't on the commission's agenda this month, but it will be in April which means it could come up before the City Council by May. more ›