Ill State News

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) announced Thursday that the unemployment rate increased +0.1 percentage point to 4.7 percent, while nonfarm payrolls increased +6,800 in November, based on preliminary data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and released by IDES. The October revised unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, unchanged from […]

CHICAGO – Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) are urging the Illinois Supreme Court to overturn an appellate court’s opinion barring employees of a Chicago manufacturing company from recovering overtime wages and penalty fees they argue should have been paid.   Raoul, along with the IDOL, filed an amicus

SPRINGFIELD – Under the leadership of Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman, the Illinois Department of Transportation continued to modernize and revitalize transportation and mobility across the state in 2023. Fueled by Gov. Pritzker’s historic, bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital program, the investments in highways, transit, railroads, airports, waterways and active transportation options

CHICAGO— Governor JB Pritzker has announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) has advanced the city of Decatur as a finalist for a grant to advance employment revitalization. The EDA also announced that the city of Springfield will receive planning dollars to develop a proposal for a similar award.   The Distressed

SPRINGFIELD – The minimum wage in Illinois is increasing on January 1st, 2024.   Workers will see an increase of $1 per hour from $13 to $14. The minimum wage for tipped workers will rise to $8.40 per hour and youth workers (under 18) working fewer than 650 hours per calendar year will see their hourly

CHICAGO – Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has released the 2023 Illinois Economic Development Highlights report. This summary reveals a record year for economic development in key sectors, including a tripling of REV and EDGE incentivized private investments to nearly $3 billion since 2022, record tourism achievements, and

SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is extending the controlled pheasant hunting program for the 2023-2024 season.   Some sites will be extended by one to two weeks in different areas of the state. Hunters should check the permit calendar on the controlled pheasant hunting website for permit availability. Sites with extended opportunities include: Des Plaines

CHICAGO – The Illinois Lottery is encouraging anyone who could use some extra holiday cash to check their old lottery tickets. There are currently over $4.3 million worth of unclaimed Lucky Day Lotto and Powerball tickets in Illinois – two of which will expire in the first half of 2024.   The two tickets expiring

SPRINGFFIELD – The Illinois Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) State Lodge has issued a statement regarding an Appellate Court decision that has effectively given a man who is accused of indecent child solicitation in Livingston County a chance to be back on the street as he awaits trial.   In early October, Livingston County Judge Jennifer