CEOs of major U.S. corporations went on record in Chief Executive Magazine’s “2014 Best and Worst States for Business.” Business leaders pulled no punches in their description of Illinois, going so far as to compare doing business in Illinois to doing business in a third-world country. The publication ranked Illinois at the bottom of the...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a gain of 288,000 payroll jobs nationally for the month of April, better than consensus expectations of a gain of 218,000. The national jobless rate dropped to 6.3 percent from 6.7 percent. The month-over-month gain in payroll jobs was the best since January 2012. However, the entire decline in...

Internal Revenue Service migration data for the 2010 tax year shows that Illinois continues to lose people to other states. Illinois had a net loss of 49,000 residents to other states, along with a net loss of $1.9 billion in personal income. Not only did Illinois lose more people than it gained, but the state also...

Illinois lost 3,200 payroll jobs in March, and the state’s unemployment rate ticked down to 8.4 percent from 8.7 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois’ month-over-month change in payroll jobs was the third-worst nationally. Only Pennsylvania and Virginia lost more jobs. This news comes fresh on the heels of the announcement by...

Myth: Gov. Pat Quinn says that Illinois is a regional leader in job creation, and that the state is making a comeback. Fact: Illinois has ranked at the bottom of regional job comparisons since the Great Recession hit. Illinoisans suffer a jobless rate that is the second-worst in the nation and the highest in the...

Illinois’ jobless rate remained stuck at 8.7 percent for the month of February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois remains the only state in the Midwest with a higher jobless rate today than when Gov. Pat Quinn took office. When Quinn took office, the jobless rate was 8 percent. The state gained 6,400...