World Business Chicago tracks indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including employment in major sectors, residential and office real estate data, price and purchasing indexes, freight demand, and auto and truck sales. Note: employment data refers to payroll job estimates for the city of Chicago and is not adjusted for seasonality.

Key trends evident this month include:

  • The Chicago (city) economy has expanded by an estimated 9,392 private-sector jobs since October 2013, mostly attributed to education and health services (+4,317) professional and business services (+4,212), and transportation and warehousing (+2,339) sectors.
  • New hires are up nearly 20% YOY in the Midwest.
  • Residential building permits in the city increased to 5,177 units in October 2014, a 51.1% improvement compared to the same time period last year.
  • Air cargo volume for O’Hare and Midway Airports posted a 12.5% YOY change since October 2013.
  • 5.9 million domestic autos were sold in the United States in November 2014, a 6.5% increase from November 2013

These and other trends are illustrated in this month’s Chicago By The Numbers.

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