HOUSEHOLD SURVEY
- Chicago’s labor force expanded (+28,679) from 1,381,997 in June 2015 to 1,410,676 in June 2016, suggesting that more residents are actively looking for work.
- The number of employed Chicago (city) residents increased by 25,914 compared to the year prior, from 1,288,942 in June 2015 to an estimated 1,314,856 in June 2016.
- Unemployed Chicago (city) residents increased by 2,765 compared to the year prior from 93,055 in June 2015 to an estimated 95,820 in June 2016.
- The increase in employed residents was not enough to offset the increase in the labor force, resulting in a preliminary unemployment rate of 6.8 percent in June 2016 before seasonal adjustment. This is up 0.1 percentage points from the June 2015 rate.
EMPLOYER SURVEY
According to payroll job estimates from IDES, the Chicago (city) economy has expanded by an estimated 11,317 private jobs since June 2015, mostly attributed to leisure and hospitality (+4,018), professional and business services (+3,779) and retail trade (+1,913).
The table below compares year-over-year change in job estimates by industry for the city of Chicago. Data is not seasonally adjusted.
Note: At the beginning of each calendar year, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) and Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics (BLS LAUS) programs revise up to five years of previous data to incorporate new inputs and population data. The data in this brief reflects the most recent revisions from BLS and IDES.
Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, World Business Chicago is the public-private partnership leading the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs in order to drive business development, cultivate talent, and put Chicago at the forefront of the global economy.
WBC’s “Economic Briefs” track indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including unemployment, population, venture capital, job openings and new hires, home sales, tourism, etc. This data provides a clear analytic framework for specific Plan strategies and initiatives. For a summary of these and other economic indicators, refer to WBC’s monthly Chicago By The Numbers.