State of the Economy 2025

Throughout 2025, the Chicago metro area demonstrated the strength of its economic diversity, adaptability, and resilience, achieving record-breaking milestones in business relocations & expansion, and trade. At the same time, national forces — including tariffs, federal spending cuts, the rise of artificial intelligence, and an increasingly uneven economy — introduced uncertainty. Despite headwinds, the data show that the region’s underlying resilience and ability to adapt continued to drive performance. Chicagoland is the heart of the nation, geographically and metaphorically – our region’s performance represents the nation’s competitive edge.

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