The unemployment rate decreased over-the-year in all fourteen Illinois metropolitan areas in January for the tenth consecutive month according to preliminary data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). Jobs were up in twelve metro areas, and were unchanged in one, and down in another.

WASHINGTON – The United States took significant and unprecedented action to respond to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine by imposing severe economic costs that will have both immediate and long-term effects on the Russian economy and financial system. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today imposed expansive economic measures, in partnership with allies and partners, that target the core infrastructure of the Russian financial system — including all of Russia’s largest financial institutions and the ability of state-owned and private entities to raise capital — and further bars Russia from the global financial system. The actions also target nearly 80 percent of all banking assets in Russia and will have a deep and long-lasting effect on the Russian economy and financial system.

The phrase “starving artist” has become a cliché because it’s often true. Indeed, it can take a long time before an independent artist starts earning enough from their music to make a living. Musicians often find themselves in the proverbial “catch-22” of having to take a regular job to fund their music but then not having enough time or energy left at the end of the day to pursue their musical endeavors. The good news is, there is a way! There are music funding “secrets” any artist can use to start earning passive income to fund their music projects.