Illinois has the nation’s second-worst unemployment rate. At 9.1 percent, it’s 1.5 percentage points higher than the national average of 7.6 percent. The lack of jobs continues to be a major burden to the people of Illinois, at both the state and local level. A year-over-year comparison of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, or MSAs, reveals an uneven...

Caterpillar Inc., one of the dozens of companies to receive special tax breaks after Illinois’ record 2011 income tax hike, recently announced plans to lay off more than 460 employees this June at its plant in Decatur.