Starting next year, Illinois businesses will see a tax increase and the recently unemployed will lose a week of jobless benefits, according to a compromise bill passed earlier this month in the Illinois Legislature. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: Unemployment
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Tellabs to lay off 60 workers
Tellabs Inc. plans to lay off 60 employees by April 1 as part of a broader restructuring aimed at refocusing the Naperville-based company on data-based telecommunications equipment. Get the full story »
Cook County employees see wages fall
Cook County workers saw their average compensation decline by 0.3 percent in 2009 to $67,791 per job, according to statistics released Tuesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
When adding the compensation of all workers, Cook County experienced a decline of 5.2 percent to 1.7 million. Cook was among the more than 2,000 counties — about two-thirds — that experienced compensation declines in 2009. Get the full story »
College grad unemployment near high
Here’s a look at how unemployment is hitting people by age and education. No group of people has been spared as the nation’s unemployment rate has climbed to 9.8 percent. The hardest hit: High school drop outs, with a 15.7 percent unemployment rate.
Yet college graduates — which tend to be more immune in recessions — are facing unemployment at the highest levels on record. Unemployment among people with college degrees is 5.1 percent, and business and management positions are being hit.
House fails to extend expiring jobless benefits
An effort to continue assistance for millions of jobless people who will see their benefits run out in coming weeks failed in the House Thursday.
By a vote of 258 to 154, the proposal to extend jobless benefits for three months fell short of the two-thirds margin needed to pass the House under special rules that limit debate. Get the full story »
State Farm may cut jobs after assessment
From Pantagraph.com | State Farm Insurance acknowledged the possibility of upcoming job losses after completing an internal assessment of five departments.
More staff cuts at the Chicago Sun-Times
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Chicago-based company Sun-Times Media LLC is cutting jobs across the company, including at the Chicago Sun-Times, the Post-Tribune in Merrillville, Ind., and the Southtown Star in Tinley Park.
Officials hint Fed on the verge of more easing
A string of Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday indicated the central bank will soon offer further monetary stimulus to the economy, with one saying $100 billion a month in bond buys may be appropriate. Get the full story »
Evans: ‘Appropriate’ to boost inflation temporarily
The U.S. Federal Reserve should pump more cash into the economy and temporarily stoke inflation to counter the stifling effects of high unemployment and undesirably low inflation, a top Fed official said on Tuesday.
“For many, my proposal will be a hard pill to swallow,” Chicago Fed President Charles Evans told a group of business leaders in Evanston. Get the full story »
Job openings increase for second straight month
Job openings rose in August for the second straight month and layoffs dropped sharply, evidence that the job market is slowly healing.
New jobless claims dip to July level
In a good sign for the job market, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week to their lowest level since July 10.
Initial unemployment claims dropped 11,000, to 445,000, in the week ended Oct. 2, the Labor Department said in its weekly report Thursday. New claims for the previous week, ended Sept. 25, were revised upward slightly to 456,000 from 453,000. Get the full story »
Highly educated less likely to be unemployed
Government data suggest that education is increasingly crucial in protecting workers from unemployment.
The difference in joblessness between the country’s least educated people and most educated people increased during the recession, according to statistics from the Labor Department. People without a high school diploma remain more than three times as likely to be unemployed than are college graduates. Get the full story »
Unemployment rises in 27 states; falls in Illinois
More than half of U.S. states saw their unemployment rates rise in August, the largest number in six months, as hiring weakened across the country. The jobless rate in Illinois, however, fell 0.2 percentage points to 10.1 percent last month.
