Unemployment claims remain five times higher than normal, but the nation’s second-harshest restaurant restrictions have hit that job sector hardest.

While May’s jobs report showed what could be the beginning of a bounce back in total employment for the state, growth was concentrated primarily among white workers. Black and Hispanic workers were left behind.

New jobless claims remain several times higher than last year as state begins to test re-opening.

New jobless claims remain several times higher than last year as state begins to test re-opening.

More than 1 in 5 black and Hispanic female workers in Illinois lost their jobs during the first month of the COVID-19 lockdown.

Record job losses hit the state during the first full month of COVID-19 economic fallout.

A quarter of Illinois’ workers are staring down the economic impacts of a global pandemic.

New data show Illinois lost private sector jobs amid a national economic expansion for the first year on record in 2019, a sign of the state’s deep structural problems in the run-up to the current market downturn.

Unemployment claims spiked this week as Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered bars and restaurants to halt dine-in service, the service industry took major hits and large gatherings were banned to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

Progressive income tax would essentially wipe out all 2019 employment gains in Illinois, and then some.