Today, the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) released preliminary November 2015 unemployment rates for municipalities across the state based on the current population survey (or “household survey”). The following brief summarizes this data, as well as job estimates by industry based on the Current Employment Statistics Program (or “employer survey”).
  • The city of Chicago posted a preliminary unemployment rate of 5.8% before seasonal adjustment – this is down 0.7 percentage points from the November 2014 rate of 6.5% and the lowest November rate since 2006.
  • Unemployed Chicago residents dropped by 10,044 compared to the year prior (from 88,895 to an estimated 78,851 in November 2015).
  • The Chicago (city) economy has expanded by an estimated 15,073 private jobs since November 2014, mostly attributed to professional and business services (+7,710) and educational and health services (+6,072) industries.
  • The number of employed Chicago (city) residents decreased by 4,401 compared to the year prior (from 1,280,100 in November 2014 to an estimated 1,275,699 in November 2015).
The charts below summarize monthly employment trends. Data is not seasonally adjusted.
CityUnemp 122315
Notes: Rates are not adjusted for seasonality, and should be compared year-over-year. City selection based on size and availability of data. 
CityEmploy 122315
The table below compares year-over-year change in job estimates by industry for the city of Chicago. Data is not seasonally adjusted.
ChicagoJobsIndustry 122315

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.  

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