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 10,724 jobs since June 2013,mostly attributed to education and health services (+5,480), professional and business services (+3,352) and transportation and utilities (+1,975) sectors.

Digital startup funding in the metro area increased to $311m during the second quarter of 2014, a 111.6% improvement from the same time period last year.

Residential building permits in the city increased to 3,362 units year-to-date in June, a 143.1% improvement compared to the same time period last year.

Annual visitors to the city reached a record 48.48 million in 2013, a 4.2% increase from 2012.

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