Bureau of Labor Statistics

What would you do with an extra $5,000? Well, given our current economic straits, many of us might respond with "Pay a few bills off and buy a six-pack." If inflation continues its current upward tilt, the person who wins the billion-dollar lottery might even say that.

It really started to get interesting in January, didn't it? That's when prices at grocery stores in Illinois and throughout the U.S. reached a record-breaking high with the overall price of food costing 6.5% more than it did in 2021, marking the highest rate of inflation since the 1980s.

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.

With all the challenges facing Rockford, and the State of Illinois, it's nice to see some numbers that are more than worth mentioning--and Rockford's got some good numbers.

As you're probably aware, low-wage earners across the country intensified their push for a $15 per hour minimum wage by waging a national day of protest on Tuesday. We took a look at the numbers from the US Bureau of Statistics to see which Illinois jobs had the lowest hourly wages.