Unemployment dropped another notch, from 3.6% to 3.5%, matching the more than 50-year low reached just before the pandemic took hold.

The proposed merger of freight rail giants Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern – which has faced a swell of opposition – wouldn’t have major environmental consequences, according to a draft environmental impact statement released Friday by the Surface Transportation Board.

The Southeast Side community is home to about 9,500 people, according to U.S. census data. Local hotspots include a nostalgic roller rink and a series of murals by local artists.

A husband and wife in Waukegan have transformed their grocery store to include a coffee shop, boutique and a gathering place for fellow entrepreneurs. 

The coffee shop, located at Lincoln and Jersey avenues on the border of North Park and West Ridge, is located in the Lincoln Village shopping center. It’s now the sixth Chicago-area Starbucks to vote for unionization – and among more than 200 around the nation to unionize so far.

Rent prices rose 9.4% in 2022, according to data firm CoStar Group. In response, groups of local tenants are unionizing in hopes of pushing for an end to a rent control ban that was passed in 1997.

State Farm hits Illinois auto customers with yet another price hike. Suburban apartments are seeing some major investment gains. And a look at what’s on the road ahead for electric truck maker Rivian.

The online used-car dealer has once again had its dealer’s license in Illinois suspended. The company’s construction of a glass “vending machine” for cars remains on hold in Skokie as a result.

Local cyclist, Xail Hernandez offers la ultima palabra on what claiming a lane did for her health and her spirit, and what she says it can do for yours too.

Economists are divided over whether a recession is looming. What’s clear is that economic uncertainty isn’t going away anytime soon. But there are steps you can take now to be ready for whatever is ahead.

Located about 30 miles north of downtown Chicago, Waukegan has recently become a hub for Planned Parenthood doctors in Wisconsin to treat their patients since that state halted abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The decline that the Commerce Department reported Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP constitute one informal, though not definitive, indicator of a recession.

Current and former employees at an Amazon warehouse in Joliet say the mega-retailer has allowed a racially hostile work environment, including death threats against Black employees and workers who are allowed to wear Confederate flag clothing, according to a complaint filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Growth appears to be sputtering, home sales are tumbling and economists warn of a potential recession ahead. But consumers are still spending, businesses keep posting profits and the economy keeps adding hundreds of thousands of jobs each month.

Mayor Lightfoot unveiled three options to renovate Soldier Field, ranging in price from $900 million to $2.2 billion. The mayor, who is running for a second term, declined to say how much public funding she was prepared to spend to prevent the Bears from leaving the city and moving to Arlington Heights.

It’s been a difficult few weeks for UpRising Bakery and Café in suburban Lake in the Hills. The cafe was targeted with hate speech and vandalized after making plans to host a family-friendly drag show.