Some bad economic news that won't play well in Peoria. Caterpillar is laying off an undisclosed number of employees because of expected bleak market conditions in 2017. The heavy equipment giant hopes to find jobs for some impacted workers elsewhere int he company. The company is more than a year into a multi-year restructuring plan. Up to 10,000 jobs could be lost before the worldwide program wraps up in 2018. Sales have dwindled from $66 billion in 2012 to an expected total of $39 billion this year.