As Cook County's newly increased sales tax rate entered its second day Wednesday, shoppers from communities along the county's border with Indiana flocked to retail outlets across the state line, where taxes are now more than 3 percent lower.

The new Cook County rate of 10.25 percent-an increase of one percentage point-dwarfs Indiana's statewide sales tax rate of 7 percent.

In a sluggish economy where retailers in general are taking a beating, online retailers in Chicago and nationwide continue to make gains in both sales and consumer satisfaction.

According to a recent survey of 125 retailers by Forrester Research Inc. and a Shop.org study, online retail is expected to be a bright spot in the industry in 2008 with sales estimated to rise 17 percent this year to $204 billion from $169 billion in 2007.

Ina Pinkney almost didn’t have a restaurant when she opened in 1991. With the U.S. in the midst of a recession, launching Ina’s from the bottom was difficult.

She faced more trouble after Sept. 11, when she said business was nearly non-existent, no bodies in her booths.

But twice the eatery overcame trying economic times and it continues to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner in the West Loop at 1235 W. Randolph St. Despite those triumphs, Pinkney said, the fix she finds herself in now makes her particularly skittish.

How would you like to earn a million dollars today, just to have it disappear tomorrow? Worse, how would you like it if this happened every day?

That’s exactly what grain elevators are experiencing as record commodity prices and dramatic price swings force them to adjust the amount of margin money they ante up every day for grain forward contracts used to hedge, or lock in, today's price.

Like Devin Hester on a punt return, sports business jobs are hard to catch.

Every year, top fleet students graduate from Northwestern University’s law and business schools, and its master’s in sports administration program. Many enter high-paying positions in corporate America. But for students pursuing careers in the sports industry, jobs aren’t nearly as ubiquitous.

Illinois metropolitan areas unemployment rates increased from 4.7 percent to 5.4 percent in April 2008, which is higher than the national average of 4.8 percent.

In the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metro area changes in unemployment figures were virtually identical to those of the entire state.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index continued its downward trend in May, hitting a 16-year low of 57.2, down 5.6 points from 62.8 in April.

It was the fifth straight month that the Index has fallen.

The Present Situation Index, which measures consumer sentiment about the current economic environment and job market, decreased to 74.4 from 81.9 in April. The Expectations Index, which gauges what consumers expect from the economy and job market in the near future, declined to 45.7, down 4.3 points from 50 in April.

Jessa Brinkmeyer said customers find that going green can be gorgeous in her eco-smart fashion boutique.

"When you walk in, you realize you don't have to sacrifice anything in terms of style or fashion in order to be green," she said. "People are pleasantly surprised and shocked about what is being done with these fabrics. It's not boring and basic or uncomfortable and ugly - it's beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. It's like walking into any other boutique."