Gov. Quinn heads to Brazil, the state unemployment rate falls, and other news. more ›

Still, 13.3 million Americans remain unemployed. 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 ›

An Indiana woman is selling a handwritten letter from President Obama for $11,000 so she can avoid eviction. 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."

Former County Board President Todd Stroger's attempts at collecting unemployment were shot down in flames because he was an elected official. But his former aide, Carla Oglesby, was approved for unemployment benefits by Stroger in the months before he left office.Oglesby collected at least $3,465 in unemployment compensation in the final months of 2010, despite being charged with theft of government property, money laundering and official misconduct. 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 ›

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 ›

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 ›

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 ›

Thieving was easy for for former Todd Stroger aide Carla Oglesby. Holding on to the nearly $300,000 she allegedly embezzled from the County was a different matter. more ›

With the economy still struggling through an anemic recovery and unemployment at record highs, it's good to know that some people are still hiring. [H/T to Sam Abernethy] 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 ›

Yesterday, Governor Quinn’s office announced its “Put Illinois to Work” program will initially create more than 2,825 jobs, less than a week after its launch. The program provides subsidies for employers who hire unemployed workers that earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($2,428 a month for a household of two). Employers are encouraged to hire people for six months, where the goal is for an employee to learn marketable skills while supporting themselves and their families. If an employer keeps an employee longer, a tax credit will benefit the employer. Overall, the Governor hopes to create more than 15,000 jobs. more ›

• A downstate spring break bike trip took a tragic turn for a trio of University of Chicago Lab School students when a minivan struck the group, killing one and inuring two.
• Unemployment was up again in February in the state of Illinois, but the job loss might be slowing.
• Seven women have been arrested as the Cook County Sheriff's office has busted up a large identity theft ring.

One fall day in 2008, a 37-year-old copywriter named Erik Proulx lost his job at one of the largest advertising agencies in the country and, and like any media-savvy creative, the first thing he did was Twitter about it. more ›

It was a busy weekend. Here's what you might have missed. more ›

The state's unemployment rate rose in December, up to 11.1 percent and well over the 7.2 percent rate from December 2008. IDES Director Maureen O’Donnell said, “The statewide unemployment rate reflects persistent weakness in national job growth as our country wrestles toward economic recovery. Given the depth of this recession, consistent and sustained job creation must occur at the national level before it can be expected in Illinois.” Overall, over 16,000 jobs were cut across the state, the 23rd straight month of job loss in Illinois. Though if you can manage to find work, the city is home to 11 of Fortune magazine's top 100 companies to work for. more ›

Illinois doesn't need more bad economic news, but bad news just keeps coming. According to the 2010 Illinois Manufacturers Directory, the state lost 51,925 industrial jobs and 709 manufacturers last year, the sharpest decline since Manufacturer's News, Inc began publishing statistics. Twenty years ago, Illinois had over 1.1 million manufacturing jobs, compared to just over 800,000 the state has currently. more ›

Even though some reports are painting the slight dip in the unemployment rate rosier than others, the Chicago Metro area still could be in for even tougher times. Manpower, one of the largest employment services companies, released their quarterly employment outlook survey yesterday, predicting slow hiring in the first quarter of 2010. more ›

The US Department of Labor released the national unemployment numbers today, showing a slight dip in the amount of jobs lost, from 10.2% to 10%. That translates to near 11,000 jobs lost, which was fewer than projected. President Obama appeared optimistic, saying, “Overall, this is the best jobs report we’ve seen since 2007.". Unfortunately, parts of Illinois fair worse than the national average. Rockford is among 15 cities nationwide with an unemployment rate over 15%, with 4,400 fewer jobs than last year. California has the hardest hit metropolitan areas, with nine major cities that have jobless rates above 15%. more ›

• Pvt. Francheska Velez, one of the two area soldiers killed in the Ft. Hood shooting rampage, was laid to rest today.
• The state's unemployment rate hit a new 26-year high in October at 11 percent.
• The RTA today gave the official thumbs up to the deal struck with Gov. Quinn that would avoid another CTA fare hike.

Home foreclosures in the Chicago suburbs and outer lying counties have risen sharply in the past three months, according to the Chicago Tribune. While home foreclosures within Cook County have decreased by five percent this financial quarter, "collar counties" like Will and Kane saw an increase in filings of at least 53% when compared to last year. The Woodstock Institute, a Chicago based economic research group, attributes the increase partly to the Illinois Homeowner Protection Act and the Home Affordable Modification Program. more ›

Last year at this time, the state's unemployment rate was 6.7 percent. As of September, the jobless rate in Illinois has already increased to 10.5 percent, after dropping slightly down to 10 percent in August, according to statistics that were released on Friday. The Illinois Department of Employment Security reported that the three-month unemployment average rose 0.1 percent to 10.3 percent, marking its highest level since December 1983. In comparison to the entire county, the U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, from 9.7 percent in August, also the highest since 1983. more ›

For the second straight month, the unemployment rate in Chicago fell even as the national rate increased from July to August. While still at rates not seen in 20+ years, the seasonally unadjusted jobless rate for the Chicago metro are in August was 9.6 percent, down from 10.7 percent in July. While the total number of unemployed people in the area was still more than 190,000 over August 2008, it's a baby step in the right direction. We hope. more ›

The state's jobless rate is slowing down but it still inched up a bit in July over June. For July, Illinois' jobless rate came in at 10.4 percent, up from 10.3 percent in June, with a total of 13,000 jobs lost. Overall, the nation actually saw the slightest decrease in the national jobless rate, from 9.5 percent in June to 9.4 percent in July. [Crain's] more ›

"It's impossible to find a job in this town." We've heard that over and over again from friends and family who have lost their jobs in this economic downturn (and not just the journalism school grads, either). According to a new survey measuring job market competition put together by job site Indeed.com (via TechCrunch), Chicago is one of the worst cities in America when it comes to getting a new job. It's not exactly the most scientific of surveys: Indeed measured the number of unemployed people in the city versus the number of job postings on its site and BAM! you have your index. For example, Washington, D.C. is apparently the easiest place to get a job with a ratio of six job postings for each unemployed person. more ›

• The City has awarded contracts connected to the demolition of Michael Reese Hospital to make way for the proposed Olympic Village for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
• Unemployment for the Chicago metro area is up again, hitting 11.3 percent for June.
• The battle over a helipad at the new Children's Hospital in Streeterville continues.

Chicago will be spending $34 million on job training this year, helping 11,000 people as they search for new jobs, the Chi-Town Daily News reports. Of the $34 million, federal stimulus money accounts for $18 million of the funds while the rest comes from the money Chicago gets annually for work development projects. more ›