economy

We just got another sign that Rockford's economy is improving, the Parade of Homes is finally returning this Spring.

Home prices also hit a 12-year high last month, with an average price of over $143K

Ted Dabrowsky is President of Wirepoints.com, a fiscal-policy focused site that "delivers original research, commentary and hand selected articles from other sources about Illinois’ economy and government."

Personal-finance site WalletHub ran the numbers on the job-seeker-friendliness of more than 120 Illinois cities.

After a year of being closed, a lawsuit has decided the issues, and the 279,000 square foot mall is about to be razed.

Manufacturing is leading the way. Over the last year, manufacturing payrolls accounted for close to half of the total increase of jobs in Illinois.

It seems that the company with over half a million employees is feeling the need for more space.

Why is our state hemorrhaging so many people and so much money to surrounding states?

We haven't had a working budget in the Land of Lincoln for years. We've got pension problems galore, the highest property taxes in the nation, and a pile of overdue bills that would make the strongest desk sag under the weight. So really, could any state be in worse economic shape that we are? In a word: yes.

Being big supporters of the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (RACVB) as we are around here, we often salute the efforts of the RACVB to market Rockford as a travel destination to people outside our area. According to some new numbers released this week, we have good reason to applaud.