The closure of a Chicago hospital will soon cause the loss of over 200 healthcare jobs. The operators of the Michael Reese Hospital, which is located on the city’s south side, recently submitted the plans for closing to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board. If the Board approves this decision then the hospital and the healthcare jobs it provides will be no more as early as fall of this year.

Reese has been suffering financial problems for sometime, but the decision to expedite its closure was based on the fact that the land may be a key piece in the city’s bid to hold the Olympics in 2016. The hospital’s problems have included over ten million dollars in losses, challenges brought on by changes in ownership and the rising number of uninsured patients who are unable to pay their medical bills.

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Finding summer jobs in Chicago may be more difficult for high school and college students to find this year. With the city’s unemployment rate currently above the national average, many adults desperate for work are competing for these positions. Since employers prefer workers with experience, students are being pushed out in favor of those with more on their resumes.

According to a recently released report, two out of every three teenagers will find themselves unable to find Chicago summer jobs this year. The youth employment rate this summer is expected to be around 34.2 percent, which is extremely low. Only about 33.5 percent of teenagers 16 or older held jobs during the first three months of this year. This is the lowest the youth employment rate has been since 1948.

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Gasoline supplier British Petroleum recently announced that it will be moving 1,200 jobs out of the western suburbs and into the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This is a complete reverse of the company’s decision to move many jobs out of the city a decade ago when BP obtained Chicago-based Amoco.

The positions will be transferring from Warrenville and Naperville mainly due to the needs of a majority of BP employees. A large portion of these individuals are younger professionals, which is a group that enjoys the idea of both living and working in downtown Chicago. Donald Smith of Jupiter Reality says that the growth of the West Loop market has made downtown living more desirable, especially for young professionals.

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The number of people looking for Chicago area part time jobs is increasing. As a larger portion of the population struggles to balance life with work, the appeal of only working part-time or nontraditional hours has grown. In order to keep up with what those in the job market are looking for, many employers are beginning to offer more opportunities of this sort.

With the economy beginning to show signs of slowing down, employers have also found that they can benefit by offering more part-time employment instead of as many full-time positions. Since many businesses do not provide benefits such as healthcare insurance to part-time workers, employers have found that this is one way to decrease spending.

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Recently compiled data from last year shows that the Chicago retail industry might as well have been at a standstill in 2007. Overall, this sector saw profits increase by only 1.09 percent, to $106.9 billion, according to a recent industry report that utilized sales tax data from the Illinois Department of Revenue. This is drastically lower than the 6.5 percent growth rate experienced in 2006 and the smallest rise since 2003.

“You can see the recession starting to occur,” John Melaniphy, Melaniphy and Associates Inc. and publisher of the report said. “There’s still a lot of weakness in the market. I think its more serious than a lot of people realize.”

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