The U.S. hit a major milestone in September. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey, the number of Americans working has finally surpassed pre-recession levels. In addition, the national jobless rate fell to 5.9 percent to 6.1 percent. The number of Illinoisans working, however, is far from recovery. There are now 220,000 more...

Though unemployment rates fell in August for Illinois’ major metropolitan areas, 19,000 workers dropped out of the workforce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because of these dropouts, the workforce shrank in every metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, except Champaign-Urbana. Workforce dropouts drive down the unemployment rate because unemployed workers who leave the workforce...