Business

Bloomington Normal's unemployment rate dropped a full point from November of last year, down to 3.1%. But the Illinois Department of Employment Security also reports the size of the workforce was unchanged over the 12-month period at 93,500.

State estimates indicate 3,000 people were out of work and looking for a job in November 2019. That’s lower than for most months of the year.

The parent company of The Pantagraph reported Thursday increased digital subscriptions and advertisers in its third quarter.

The Normal Planning Commission will take up a proposal for a new hotel in the Constitution Trail Center on the north side of town.

Illinois State University President Larry Dietz said he's in favor of better communication with student landlords.

Dietz said he will meet next month with apartment owners concerned the university is building up to 1,200 new student beds in a pod format.

The City of Bloomington has suspended its business registration program.

A bond rating agency said its outlook on Illinois Wesleyan University is negative and no longer stable. Enrollment grew this year at the liberal arts school in Bloomington. But, Moody's Investors Service says a legacy of falling enrollment and net tuition revenue at IWU will contribute to imbalanced operations as existing smaller class sizes cycle through the school.

Unemployment in Bloomington-Normal held steady at 3.6 percent last month compared to September 2017.

The Normal Town Council will take up the $29 million Trail East project proposal Monday.

State Farm Insurance is settling a class action conspiracy suit for $250 million. At stake if the matter Hale vs. State Farm had proceeded to trial was $10 billion.

Green Top Grocery has hired a new general manager as the co-op continues its turnaround effort.

“Incredibly amazing,” “brilliant” and “very gifted” are just a few ways an Illinois Wesleyan University professor described her three students who recently won a $5,000 grant to start up their business.

Frontier Airlines is coming back to Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington.

Sears is closing another 72 stores after reporting a first-quarter loss and plunging sales. The store at Eastland Mall in Bloomington is not on the latest closure list.

Amid the many moves by State Farm Insurance comes a hiring fair.

Thirteen eye doctors and a spectacle boutique are coming together to create a new $10 million eye center.

The total compensation for State Farm’s top executive is lower than his predecessor’s and several of his peers in the insurance industry.

A new manufacturer is coming to town.