Work+Money - News, Photos and More on the Windy Citizen

Chicago financial services jobs at risk: "We've got to bail out Archer Avenue as well as Wall Street"

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 08:59:02 -0500

Planned U.S. layoffs jumped significantly in September from a year earlier, according to a report released Wednesday by a Chicago-based employment consulting firm.

Halloween offers sole bright spot in worst holiday shopping forecast in six years

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:53:45 -0500

The holiday shopping season is still weeks away, but Peter Gill, communications director for the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, said holiday sales are expected to rise only between 2 percent t

Chicago job market follows nation, nosedives; Won't pick up until spring '09

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:36:26 -0500

The government collects data on consumer's behavior

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:05 -0500

When Margaret Humphrey goes shopping, she isn't just shopping for herself; she is shopping for the entire country.

Humphrey is one of the economic assistants for the Chicago regional office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the employees that collect the price data that is used to generate the Consumer Price Index, or CPI.

Filling up the piggy bank

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:05 -0500

The ideal time to start saving and planning for your child's education
is of course as soon as possible, but perhaps you didn't have the
forethought to open a 529 plan on the day your child was born. The
important thing is to evaluate your financial situation based on the
number of years you have until your child begins college and to make
decisions accordingly.

Maybe you have a teen who is planning to start college in just a
couple of years. Or perhaps you've been saving for a while and want

Chicago restaurants face challenges when going green

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:05 -0500

Companies are looking to lessen their carbon footprints, but their efforts are not always being matched by the cities in which they reside. Take Sopraffina Marketcaffe in Chicago, for instance.

Dan Rosenthal, president of The Rosenthal Group Inc. and owner of Sopraffina, has hit a snag in his effort to turn his five Loop-located restaurants into low-waste producers.

Waste Management landfill gives new life to Buckley Growers in Taylorville, Ill.

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:47:15 -0500

Throughout the spring months, trucks loaded down with trays of multicolored annuals travel from Buckley Growers in Taylorville, Ill., to the Busy Bee Nursery in Crestwood, Ill. Busy Bee, which is in its 20th year, hired Buckley because the grower offers varieties of flowers that general manager Peter Barones can't find anywhere else.

"We've always been happy with their service and product," said Barones, who has been a Buckley customer for five years. "We're comfortable with them because they run a good business."

Not your father's Trib(une)

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:14:03 -0500

Editor&Pubiisher reported on a leaked, radical redesign of the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune is among Tribune Co. media properties order to develop prototypes and implement other cost-cutting measures in wake of an advertising downturn.

Which local advertisers medaled in Beijing?

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:11:03 -0500

Chicago's big Olympic advertisers and even Barack Obamagot more bang for their buck out of a record number of viewers for the Beijing Games and the lasting impressions of mostly feel-good, soft-sell commercials.

In another venue where winners and losers can be separated by subjective judgment calls, McDonalds Corp. took home the gold, while Kraft Foods Inc. edged out United Airlines for the silver medal, according to a sampling of local ad industry insiders.

"Only McDonald's competes on the highest stage," says Dennis Ryan, chief creative officer for Chicago ad shop Element 79.

None of the companies revealed the amount of money they spent, or how well their ads performed relative to others. A Kraft commercial featuring a Western girl and an Asian girl eating Oreo cookies on stopped, side-by-side trains was the second-best remembered and liked among 41 Chinese-themed commercials, according to Nielsen IAG. The New York-based consumer survey firm tracked 228 commercials overall.

For once, IRS has to pony up

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:35:25 -0500

Score one for the little guy.

An accountant has won a court judgement against the IRS over the way it taxes shares distributed to mutual life insurance policies. The ruling could mean millions to taxpayers who meet the criteria and whose claims haven't reached the three-year statute of limitations.