Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois Job Growth

There were 4,766,400 jobs in Chicago, Illinois in December 2018 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 4,691,392 employed persons for the month. Chicago added 12,200 jobs in December 2018 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS measure of employment fell by 19,094 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). You can also compare Chicago job growth to job growth in other cities.

Employment Survey	December 2018	Month/Month	Year/Year
CES	4,766,400	+12,200	+59,000
CPS	4,691,392	-19,094	+8,970

Note: The CPS survey data is now seasonally adjusted at the metropolitan level by with the new BLS SSA series.

Chicago, Illinois Employment Changes

The charts below show the monthly job growth for Chicago as measured by the CES and CPS surveys. To illustrate the trend, the 3 month moving average change in employment is shown in green.

CES Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

CPS Employment Change: 1 Month, Rolling 3 Month

Total Employment for Chicago, Illinois

CES employment for Chicago in December 2018 is at a new high of 4,766,400.

CPS employment reached a maximum of 4,710,486 for Chicago in November 2018. 19,094 jobs have been lost in Chicago since then according to the household survey.

Employment: CES, CPS

Chicago, Illinois Employment History

Date	CES Employment	CES Month/Month	CPS Employment	CPS Month/Month
December 2018	4,766,400	12,200	4,691,392	-19,094
November 2018	4,754,200	8,000	4,710,486	20,151
October 2018	4,746,200	13,200	4,690,335	19,494
September 2018	4,733,000	-3,500	4,670,841	-12,488
August 2018	4,736,500	-600	4,683,329	-3,635
July 2018	4,737,100	100	4,686,964	11,412
June 2018	4,737,000	10,800	4,675,552	-3,642
May 2018	4,726,200	5,100	4,679,194	-6,866
April 2018	4,721,100	200	4,686,060	-14,780
March 2018	4,720,900	1,600	4,700,840	16,915
February 2018	4,719,300	11,400	4,683,925	25,365
January 2018	4,707,900	500	4,658,560	-23,862