The unemployment rate in Illinois reached a staggering 16.4 percent in April, the highest rate recorded since the modern system of tracking joblessness began in 1976, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday.

The previous record of 13.9 percent was set in February 1983, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The rate in April was 12.2 percentage points higher than March, which was revised downward to 4.2 percent, reflecting a revised estimate of the number of people in the labor force that month.

More than 1.2 million Illinoisans have filed for unemployment since the beginning of March and a state representative is demanding answers on what the Pritzker administrationg is doing about continued delays in paying out benefits.

Illinois’ unemployment rate for April skyrocketed from 4.2 percent to 16.4 percent. That doesn’t include the more than 140,000 filers in the previous two weeks.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker released a five-stage reopening plan for the state on May 5. The plan divides the state into four regions that can move through the stages independently of one another.

This tool, presented in collaboration with The Chicago Reporter, allows you to search an address to see which region it’s in and the current phase of that region. It also lays out what these phases will look like — what’s open, what’s restricted and who’s encouraged to work from home.

As lawmakers continue to hash out details for the budget year that begins July 1, Gov. J.B. Pritzker isn’t willing to cut spending. Instead, he’s looking to borrow to keep spending level. He’s also dismissing any reforms during the pandemic.

In a truncated session, state lawmakers are working on details of what could be a $39.7 billion spending plan. That’s about level with the current fiscal year’s spending plan, even with the expected crater in revenue from the economic shutdown imposed by government.

One day before a hearing scheduled in front of a skeptical downstate judge that threatened his stay-at-home order, a lawyer for Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday moved a lawsuit from Rep. Darren Bailey out of state court in Clay County and into federal court.

In doing so, Pritzker likely thwarted an expected legal showdown, at least temporarily. Clay County Circuit Clerk Crystal Ballard said the Friday afternoon hearing before Clay County Judge Michael McHaney would remain on the calendar, because Bailey’s legal team was expected to file an emergency motion in federal court to take the case back to state court.

The Illinois Senate took the chamber’s last step in putting language for a graduated income tax constitutional amendment on the November general election ballot and publishing arguments for and against the measure in pamphlet form.

The Illinois Constitution Amendment Act requires the General Assembly to prepare a brief explanation of the proposed amendment, a brief argument in favor, a brief argument against, and the form in which the amendment will appear on the ballot in a pamphlet that will be distributed to voters.

Illinois voters will automatically receive an application to vote by mail before the November election in an attempt to avoid exposing people to the coronavirus by making them vote in person.

The vote-by-mail bill was the most controversial bill acted on by lawmakers Thursday, the second day of the abbreviated General Assembly session.

The Cook County Board approved some relief for property taxpayers today, agreeing to waive late-payment interest penalties for two months.

Bills are still technically due on Aug. 3 but can be paid as late as Oct. 1 without running up late interest charges. The change, negotiated over several weeks between county leaders and designed to ease the economic stresses of the coronavirus pandemic, involves billions of dollars of second-installment property tax bills.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot tossed cold water on hopes that restaurants might open in Chicago on May 29, the date the state is projecting it will move to the next reopening phase.

Lightfoot said May 29 is “not a magic date.”

The City Council on Wednesday approved several measures designed to protect employees and help businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, including a measure that makes it illegal for workers to lose their jobs if they fall ill with the virus.

Employers are now blocked from firing or retaliating against employees who decline to return to work because they have been ordered to isolate by public health officials.

Naperville Park District staff members will begin to reinstall equipment between May 26 and the first week of June to allow the reopening of several types of park facilities, including basketball courts, volleyball courts and the Knoch Knolls Park disc golf course.

Basketball rim installation will begin May 26 at neighborhood parks and then will move to sports complexes. With 104 rims to be reinstalled across the district, the process will take about a week.

Dealing a blow to Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and privacy advocates, the County Board on Thursday narrowly approved a resolution that will provide suburban police officers and other first responders with the addresses of those who’ve tested positive for the coronavirus.

Preckwinkle said she was “profoundly disappointed” by the passage of the controversial resolution, which has sparked a debate on the clash between protecting police officers, firefighters, paramedics and other first responders and the public’s right to privacy.

After years of friction, Illinois tollway directors approved contracts with Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific railroads Thursday, removing an obstacle to construction of I-490.

The construction of I-490, a ring road on O’Hare International Airport’s west side, is expected to change commuting patterns in the region.

Many of us will be working from home this summer, so this will come as a bit of good news.

The cost of electricity if you’re a customer of Commonwealth Edison is falling substantially thanks to low energy prices. ComEd’s price for the juice it buys on customers’ behalf, along with the cost of transporting the electricity from power plants to the local grid, will decrease by 10 percent beginning in June and lasting through September.