Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois Job Growth

There were 4,784,200 jobs in Chicago, Illinois in March 2019 according to the CES survey of employers. The CPS survey of households showed 4,696,983 employed persons for the month. Chicago lost 2,900 jobs in March 2019 according to the CES survey while the broader CPS measure of employment rose by 4,142 (Comparing CES and CPS employment numbers.). You can also compare Chicago job growth to job growth in other cities.

Employment Survey	March 2019	Month/Month	Year/Year
CES	4,784,200	-2,900	+45,200
CPS	4,696,983	+4,142	+20,351

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 peaked in January 2019 at 4,794,400. Since then 10,200 jobs have been lost in Chicago according to the employer survey.

CPS employment in March 2019 for Chicago is at a new high of 4,696,983.

Employment: CES, CPS

Chicago, Illinois Employment History

Date	CES Employment	CES Month/Month	CPS Employment	CPS Month/Month
March 2019	4,784,200	-2,900	4,696,983	4,142
February 2019	4,787,100	-7,300	4,692,841	3,502
January 2019	4,794,400	11,300	4,689,339	3,896
December 2018	4,783,100	6,100	4,685,443	-191
November 2018	4,777,000	13,800	4,685,634	687
October 2018	4,763,200	9,800	4,684,947	3,465
September 2018	4,753,400	-1,400	4,681,482	4,372
August 2018	4,754,800	3,200	4,677,110	2,825
July 2018	4,751,600	11,500	4,674,285	952
June 2018	4,740,100	7,900	4,673,333	-1,202
May 2018	4,732,200	10,700	4,674,535	-1,650
April 2018	4,721,500	-17,500	4,676,185	-447