The U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7% in April, a level last seen during the Great Depression, as 20.5 million jobs vanished in the worst monthly loss on record — stark evidence of how the coronavirus has brought the economy to its knees.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently highlighted the high rate of COVID-19 in Latino communities. As part of our reporting series, we spent the day in a predominantly Latino neighborhood on the city’s Near West Side.

Illinois has spent more than $238 million on resources related to the pandemic, even entering into occasional bidding wars with other states for supplies. We ask Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza about state spending — and budget shortfalls.

With schools and many businesses closed, the coronavirus has taken an unparalleled financial toll on Illinois residents, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday afternoon.

Chicago businesses would not have to renew their licenses — or pay late fees if those licenses expire — under a measure that cleared a key city panel on Thursday. 

Illinois restaurants and bars have been closed since mid-March to dine-in customers, and the governor’s newly unveiled reopening plan means they won’t be permitted to reopen any time soon.

The Hyde Park-Kenwood area is the home of former President Barack Obama, and in many ways it is the intellectual and academic heart of the city, with the University of Chicago laid out along the midway. 

The pandemic has laid bare how existing inequalities can magnify the impact of the virus on low-income workers, who are disproportionately women and people of color. And now, many of those workers are being designated as essential.

Illinois’ 14th District includes the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy says the pandemic has been particularly challenging for some residents in this diverse community. 

When the coronavirus shut down much of the economy in early March, the Rogers Park Community Response Team was formed. How the group is addressing the needs of residents during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit African American and Hispanic and Latino communities especially hard in terms of infection and death. We speak with U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly about health disparities, funding and more.

The community is marked by waterfront apartment buildings, Loyola University and a racially and economically diverse population. We see how the pandemic is changing daily life in Rogers Park.

State tax revenue dropped $2.74 billion in April due to the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. 

The Urban Muslim Minority Alliance has been working to help Lake County residents get out of poverty since 2004 with GED classes, job preparedness training, a food pantry and more.

An industrial town with a large working-class population, Waukegan is one of Illinois’ oldest communities. It’s also seen the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Lake County, with at least 1,214 residents testing positive.

Pushing to reopen the economy, President Donald Trump insists that states can gradually lift lockdowns and still protect people from the coronavirus pandemic, even as he’s also suggesting U.S. deaths could reach 100,000.