The unemployment rate edged higher but the U.S. economy added a better-than-expected 257,000 jobs in January, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The number of new jobs created in January was expected to total 234,000, while the unemployment rate was seen coming in at 5.6 percent.

Well, the workplace apocalypse is upon us.

At least that’s what you’d think if you listen to some of the politicians and union bosses in Illinois.

For the first time in decades, an Illinois governor has dared to utter the words “right to work.”

CME Group says it will close most of its futures trading pits in Chicago and New York City by July 2, 2015.

It will maintain its options trading pit and the S&P 500 futures market.

“Equity index futures pits and the DJIA ($10) and NASDAQ-100 options pits will close following the expiration of the June 2015 contract on June 19, 2015,” the company said in a release.

The DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference is hoping 2015 is the year when Illinois finally reforms its public safety pension system and protects local government funding, according to a news release from the organization.

The state’s business organizations are making sure lawmakers know they are opposed to a hike in minimum wage (Lawmakers probably probably knew where the groups stand on this one).

A Senate committee approved a measure that would increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour by the end of the decade.

The state’s retailers says a minimum wage hike will keep people out of jobs and keep Illinois at a disadvantage.

Deb Mell was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to replace her father in a classic political deal engineered after the mid-term retirement of veteran Democratic warhorse Richard Mell.

Now, the elder Mell is being accused of continuing to help his daughter — with the gift of bargain-basement office space — in a way that may have violated the city’s ethics ordinance and the limits it imposes on campaign contributions.

United Working Families has filed a formal complaint asking the City Council’s handpicked inspector general to investigate so-called “in-kind” contributions that the elder Mell made to his daughter.

The new treasurer of Wisconsin, Republican Matt Adamczyk, wants to eliminate his office.

“Not much to say, just get rid of my job,” he told GOP lawmakers after his election.

He’s not waiting around for somebody else to step up, though.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel was attacked Wednesday for the well-oiled fundraising machine that has put nearly $31 million in his campaign coffers since 2010, with mayoral challenger Bob Fioretti declaring, “If that’s not pay-to-play, I don’t know what is.”

The nexus between Emanuel’s heavy-hitting donors and the mayor’s public appearances and official actions was center stage during a live mayoral forum on the WTTW-Channel 11 program, “Chicago Tonight.”

It was the third of five mayoral debates crunched into a two-week period before the Feb. 24 election.

For advocates of major financial change in Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner spoke the right words in his State of the State address.

“Today represents a turning point for the state of Illinois,” said John Tillman, chief executive of the Illinois Policy Institute.

But for rating agency analysts, who routinely check the state’s pulse for signs of improving health, the assessment was simple: “Show me.”