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 7,476 jobs since April 2013, mostly attributed to education and health services (+5,768), professional and business services (+3,984) and transportation and utilities (+1,444) sectors.

Residential building permits in the city increased to 1,908 units year-to-date in April, a 172% improvement compared to the same time period last year.

The Chicago Business Barometer, a regional view considered to be a leading indicator of the national economy, improved 11.6% from May 2013 to May 2014.

Passenger volume for O’Hare and Midway Airports grew by 730,397 people, a 10.7% change since April 2013.

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