Illinois already has the fourth-highest minimum wage in the nation and is one of 19 states with a minimum wage higher than the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. But the state’s current rate of $8.25 isn’t enough for Illinois lawmakers, who want to increase the minimum wage to $10.25 an hour. Efforts to increase the minimum...

The problem Only 27 percent of teens in Illinois had jobs last year – the lowest Illinois teen employment rate in the 42 years this data has been collected. The figures were worst for African American teens in Chicago, where only 10 percent had jobs. As the graphic shows, the Great Recession clobbered teens with...

US labor report Many analysts are challenging the 0.3 percentage point drop in the nation’s September unemployment rate released this morning by US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS announced the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8 percent from 8.1 percent in August. The unemployment rate, which is now below 8 percent for the first time...

Today there are 5 million fewer people participating in the labor force than when President Obama took office in January 2009. That

Illinois has felt the bite of the Great Recession more than most states. Our unemployment rate increased to 8.7 percent in June, the highest in the Midwest and 10th highest in the nation. Lawmakers should be doing all they can to make opening a business easier. But in Evanston, Illinois, they are imposing needless restraints....

by Brian Costin Is it wrong that we get excited about economics rap videos? As we continue to deal with the fallout of the “Great Recession” the debate over the proper role of government in the economy is increasingly being debated in the mainstream media. Two historical figures who are increasingly relevant in this debate are...

by Ashley Muchow Depression. Great Recession. Trough. We’ve heard it all in reference to the struggling state of the U.S. economy. President Barack Obama has insisted his policy moves and $787 billion-plus spending initiatives staved off a second Great Depression. The National Bureau of Economic Research declared late last month that the recession ended in June of 2009, after less...