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 11,888 jobs, a 1.0 percent year-over-year improvement since August 2014. The vast majority of this growth can be attributed to the professional and business services (+5,800 jobs), education and health services (+5,300), and transportation & logistics (+2,100) sectors. The financial services sector experienced the most significant decrease in jobs (-2,200).
• The unemployment rate in Chicago (city) decreased year-over-year. The city’s August 2015 unemployment rate of 6.4% is 1.2 percentage points lower than the rate of 7.6% in August 2014.
• Median home sales in Chicago (city) increased 6.3% since August 2014, while median home price held steady at $270,000.
• Passenger volume for O’Hare and Midway Airports grew by 704,623, an 8.1% increase since August 2014. Concurrently, air cargo tonnage for both airports grew by 3,952 tons, a 2.9% increase since August 2014.

These and other trends are illustrated in this month’s Chicago by the Numbers.