Those with Chicago government jobs work for some of the largest employers in the city.

Government employees dominate the Chicago economy. The government industry alone employed 481,300 workers during May, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the list of largest employers by Crain’s Chicago Business, five of the top six are in government.

The largest, of course, is the federal government, with 78,000 full-time local employees. Chicago Public Schools is second with 43,910 full-time local employees, followed by the City of Chicago in third with 35,570 full-time local employees, Cook County in fifth with 22,142 employees and last the State of Illinois.

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Several Chicago education jobs will soon be lost.

Officials at Chicago Public Schools recently announced that they plan to lay off 500 workers within the next few weeks and another 500 workers during the next year. The cuts aren’t expected to affect classrooms, but instead will take place among the 5,300 employees in the school’s management and administrative positions.

According to an article by the Chicago Tribune, the job cuts will help fill a budget deficit estimated to be between $475 million and $600 million. The layoffs could help save up to $100 million.

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Would you take part in a reality-style competition to get a job? Unemployed workers who are interested in a Chicago sales job - and a shot at owning a business - will soon have the chance to do just that.

Graphics Resource Management LLC recently announced the creation of “The Partner,” a reality-style competition for sales and marketing professionals. The top three contenders will have the chance at a job and at owning part of the business. Candidates will be selected through July 3, with the top three candidates to be selected by July 10. The competition among the top three is scheduled to take place from July 13 to August 14.

Candidates will have to show their ability to create a business development plan and find and win new business. Candidates will be given a small budget and about one month to prove their entrepreneurial skills by gaining clients, marketing the business and showing how they would run sales and marketing if they were selected as the winner. They also will earn commission on all business they gain during the competition.

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Although some Chicago jobs were added from March to April, the city lost workers compared to last year and saw its unemployment rate nearly reach 10 percent.

The Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area saw its unemployment rate increase from 9.3 percent to 9.9 percent during April, higher than the national unemployment rate of 8.9 percent. The area’s unemployment rate hasn’t decreased since October 2008, when it dropped from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent.

The area had a total non-farm employment of 3,682,200 workers during April, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 3,673,100 workers during March, but a 4.4 percent decrease from last year.

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The federal government is providing money that will help create several Chicago construction jobs.

The economic stimulus will provide enough funds for the City of Chicago to resurface more than 31 miles of streets, which will in turn create new jobs and sustain existing positions. The city expects to receive a total of $86 million in federal stimulus money for highway infrastructure projects.

The exact cost of the planned projects is unknown, but could be up to $50 million. The remainder of the money will be used to complete four major street reconstructions, including Chicago Avenue from Laramie to Grand, Congress Drive from Wells to Michigan, LaSalle Drive from Clark Street to Lake Shore Drive and Lake Park from 51st to 57th.

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