Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois Unemployment
The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Chicago fell 0.1 percentage points in January 2021 to 8.5%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.8 percentage points higher than the Illinois rate. The unemployment rate in Chicago peaked in April 2020 at 17.6% and is now 9.1 percentage points lower. From a post peak low of 7.7% in November 2020, the unemployment rate has now grown by 0.8 percentage points. You can also compare Chicago unemployment with unemployment in other cities.
Unemployment Rate | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
---|---|---|---|
National | 6.3% | -0.4 | +2.8 |
Illinois | 7.7% | -0.3 | +4.2 |
Chicago | 8.5% | -0.1 | +5.0 |
Unemployment Rate: Chicago, Illinois, National
Note: Recessions shown in gray.
Chicago, Illinois Unemployed
The number of people unemployed in Chicago peaked in April 2020 at 828,355. There are now 432,026 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area. From a recent trough of 360,299 in November 2020, the number of unemployed has now grown by 36,030. Chicago employment and jobs data (including jobs lost/gained in Chicago, Illinois) is also available.
Unemployed Persons | January 2021 | Month/Month | Year/Year |
---|---|---|---|
Chicago | 396,329 | -7,006 | +227,729 |
Number of Unemployed Persons
Chicago, Illinois Unemployment History
Date | National Unemployment Rate |
Illinois Unemployment Rate |
Chicago Unemployment Rate |
Chicago Unemployed |
---|---|---|---|---|
March 2021 |
6.0% | — | — | — |
February 2021 |
6.2% | 7.4% | — | — |
January 2021 |
6.3% | 7.7% | 8.5% | 396,329 |
December 2020 |
6.7% | 8.0% | 8.6% | 403,335 |
November 2020 |
6.7% | 8.1% | 7.7% | 360,299 |
October 2020 |
6.9% | 8.1% | 8.7% | 413,022 |
September 2020 |
7.8% | 10.4% | 11.5% | 556,226 |
August 2020 |
8.4% | 11.1% | 11.8% | 561,097 |
July 2020 |
10.2% | 12.0% | 11.9% | 563,933 |
June 2020 |
11.1% | 14.2% | 15.2% | 750,718 |
May 2020 |
13.3% | 15.4% | 15.6% | 751,055 |
April 2020 |
14.8% | 16.5% | 17.6% | 828,355 |
1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩