Unemployment

Over the years, Rockford has been on the receiving end of all sorts of slings and arrows from different publications, and I don't know that it will ever stop. I'm sure they get their numbers correct, but sometimes it feels like we're being piled on.

From the middle of March through the middle of April, there was a slow-down of the labor market's recovery across the country, but especially here in Illinois--and Rockford in particular.

Well this move from McDonald's marks a big turn in using incentives to lure in some new employees.

As it's set up currently, Illinoisans collecting unemployment insurance receive an extra $300 a week from the federal government, which is intended to help them through the pandemic. Since individual governors can opt their states out of that particular benefit, 18 governors have done just that, and more are seriously considering it.

Illinois’ unemployment rate is still lagging behind the rest of the nation and is the highest of all Midwestern states at 7.1%, leaving 436,400 Illinoisans looking for work, according to analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute.

In addition to leading the Midwest in outbound migration (people leaving the state), Illinois trails all of our neighbors in getting people back on the job.

Earlier this year, unemployment across the United States was at 3.5%.

It sounds ironic that the unemployment office is hiring, but they're busier than ever right now.

Now that states and businesses are beginning to reopen, many questions are arising about claiming unemployment if you refuse to return to work during the pandemic.

Self-employed workers in Illinois who aren't usually eligible for unemployment could soon get help from the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program (PUA).