The economic report is yet another indictment of the status quo in Illinois.

On national, regional and county-level comparisons, the report was negative for Illinois.

Workers’ compensation costs are killing Illinois steel.

Illinois still ranks last in the country for putting people back to work over the Great Recession era.

Illinois’ unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent from 7.9 percent month-over-month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent household survey. But there’s no reason to celebrate. Payroll jobs shrank by 2,600, with a loss of 5,400 private-sector jobs and an increase of 2,800 government jobs. The decline in the unemployment rate was driven...

After nearly a month’s delay due to the federal government’s shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced yesterday that the national unemployment rate edged down in September to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent one month earlier. Overall, 11.3 million Americans remain unemployed. The U-6 unemployment rate, which includes all workers who are unemployed or underemployed,...