The Northwest Side community of Jefferson Park is known as the gateway to Chicago, in part because it’s a transit hub. The area’s thought of by some as typical “bungalow belt” Chicago. It’s predominantly middle class, but recently there’s been an uptick in homelessness. 

The struggling video game retailer’s stock has been making stupefying moves this month, wild enough to raise concerns from professional investors on Wall Street to the hallways of regulators and the White House in Washington. 

GameStop stock has rocketed from below $20 earlier this month to close around $350 Wednesday as a volunteer army of investors on social media challenged big institutions who had placed market bets that the stock would fall.

Thursday's report from the government estimated that the nation's gross domestic product — its total output of goods and services — slowed sharply in the October-December quarter from a record 33.4% surge in the July-September quarter.

Last week’s claims dropped by 67,000, from 914,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. Before the virus hit the United States hard last March, weekly applications for jobless aid had never topped 700,000.

It’s been one year since recreational marijuana became legal in Illinois. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s senior adviser for cannabis control talks about how Illinois aims to expand access to marijuana dispensary licenses after intense criticism from equity advocates. 

Blair Kamin, Phil Vettel and Howard Reich have taken voluntary buyouts at the Chicago Tribune after decadeslong careers at the newspaper. They discuss their experiences at the paper and what comes next.

Indoor dining and drinking is again allowed at bars and restaurants in Chicago and Cook County. The move could bring businesses much-needed cash during the pandemic, but some in the industry think the risks outweigh the benefits.

The Loop has been eerily quiet over the past year. COVID-19 has forced thousands of downtown office workers to stay home, while performing arts venues have retreated into hibernation. But many of the Loop’s small businesses and cultural institutions are still kicking. 

Five years after acquiring a block of properties on Bryn Mawr Avenue through eminent domain, Northeastern Illinois University has officially scrapped its plan to build student housing on the site and is casting about for other uses.

WGN America is changing its name and focus. Crain’s Chicago Business editor Ann Dwyer has details on that story and more business news.

After 85 days, limited indoor dining and drinking can resume in Chicago and suburban Cook County on Saturday, officials with the Illinois Department of Public Health announced. But the long-awaited news came with a warning.

The Southwest Side community is home to many essential workers and has been a hot spot for the coronavirus throughout the pandemic.

The number of distribution centers being built in the Chicago area is on the rise. Supporters say they can create jobs in places that have long faced disinvestment and unemployment. But critics say they aren’t always good jobs.

The Labor Department's report Thursday underscored that President Joe Biden has inherited an economy that faltered this winter as virus cases spiked, cold weather restricted dining and federal rescue aid expired.

When Illinois required businesses to shut down last March because of the coronavirus pandemic, many workers were left without an income. Now, researchers say they are seeing a dramatic increase in poverty.