Total nonfarm employment for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 4,629,300 in February 2018, up 32,000, or 0.7 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased 1.6 percent. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Charlene Peiffer noted that the Chicago metropolitan area has had over-the-year employment increases each month since October 2010. (See chart 1 and table 1; the Technical Note at the end of this release contains metropolitan area definitions. All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

The Chicago metropolitan area is made up of four metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the larger metropolitan area. The Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metropolitan Division, which accounted for 80 percent of the area’s workforce, added 18,700 jobs from February a year ago. In the Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. Metropolitan Division, employment increased by 9,100. Employment in the Elgin, Ill. Metropolitan Division increased by 6,300 from February a year ago, while the Gary, Ind. Metropolitan Division had an employment loss of 2,100 jobs.

Industry employment

Government employment increased by 10,100 since February 2017, the largest employment gain in the Chicago area. The local rate of job growth, at 1.9 percent, was greater than the 0.2-percent national increase.

In the greater Chicago metropolitan area, financial activities had the second-largest employment gain from February 2017 to February 2018, adding 7,000 jobs. The Chicago area’s 2.3-percent rate of job growth in financial activities was greater than the nationwide advance of 1.7 percent. Local employment growth in the supersector was concentrated in the Chicago division which added 6,700 jobs. (See chart 2.)

Locally, education and health services and manufacturing added 5,500 jobs and 5,400 jobs, respectively. In education and health services, the Chicago area’s 0.8-percent employment increase was lower than the national rate of 1.9 percent. Manufacturing employment rose 1.3 percent locally, compared to the 1.8-percent rate for the nation.

Three other local supersectors each gained at least 3,000 jobs: professional and business services (+3,700), construction (+3,500), and trade, transportation, and utilities (+3,000). The Chicago area’s professional and business services industry job growth rate, at 0.5 percent, was lower than the 2.4-percent national increase. Employment in Chicago’s construction industry grew by 2.3 percent; nationally, employment in the construction industry was up 4.2 percent over the year. The local trade, transportation, and utilities industry job growth rate, at 0.3 percent, was lower than the 0.9-percent national gain.

Two Chicago area supersectors lost more than 1,000 jobs since last February: information (-4,800, down 6.0 percent), and leisure and hospitality (-1,900, down 0.4 percent). Nationally, information employment decreased by 2.4 percent and leisure and hospitality employment rose by 2.1 percent from the previous February.

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Chicago was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in February 2018. All 12 areas had over-the-year job growth during the period, with the rates of job growth in 5 areas exceeding the national increase of 1.6 percent. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale had the fastest rate of job growth, up 3.0 percent, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, up 2.7 percent. Chicago had the slowest rate of job growth, 0.7 percent, followed by Boston-Cambridge-Nashua and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, at 0.9 percent each. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

New York-Newark-Jersey City added the largest number of jobs since February 2017, 124,200, followed by Dallas (+96,000) and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim (+93,400). Boston had the smallest employment gain over the year, adding 24,500 jobs, followed by Philadelphia (+25,800). Annual gains in the remaining seven metropolitan areas ranged from 67,100 in Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land to 30,600 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach.

Over the year, professional and business services added the most jobs in five areas: Boston, Houston, Miami, San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria. Education and health services gained the most jobs in three areas: New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.

The information supersector lost the most jobs over the year in six areas. Dallas was the only metropolitan area to have no annual job losses in any supersector.

Metropolitan area employment data for March 2018 are scheduled to be released on Friday, April 20, 2018.

Technical Note

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period that includes the 12th of the month. Persons are counted at their place of work rather than at their place of residence; those appearing on more than one payroll are counted on each payroll. Industries are classified on the basis of their principal activity in accordance with the 2017 version of the North American Industry Classification System.

Method of estimation. CES State and Area employment data are produced using several estimation procedures. Where possible these data are produced using a "weighted link relative" estimation technique in which a ratio of current-month weighted employment to that of the previous-month weighted employment is computed from a sample of establishments reporting for both months. The estimates of employment for the current month are then obtained by multiplying these ratios by the previous month's employment estimates. The weighted link relative technique is utilized for data series where the sample size meets certain statistical criteria.

For some employment series, the sample of establishments is very small or highly variable. In these cases, a model-based approach is used in estimation. These models use the direct sample estimates (described above), combined with forecasts of historical (benchmarked) data to decrease volatility in estimation. Two different models (Fay-Herriot Model and Small Domain Model) are used depending on the industry level being estimated. For more detailed information about each model, refer to the BLS Handbook of Methods.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports that are submitted by employers who are covered under state unemployment insurance (UI) laws. The benchmark information is used to adjust the monthly estimates between the new benchmark and the preceding one and also to establish the level of employment for the new benchmark month. Thus, the benchmarking process establishes the level of employment, and the sample is used to measure the month-to-month changes in the level for the subsequent months.

Reliability of the estimates. The estimates presented in this release are based on sample surveys, administrative data, and modeling and, thus, are subject to sampling and other types of errors. Sampling error is a measure of sampling variability–that is, variation that occurs by chance because a sample rather than the entire population is surveyed. Survey data also are subject to nonsampling errors, such as those which can be introduced into the data collection and processing operations. Estimates not directly derived from sample surveys are subject to additional errors resulting from the specific estimation processes used. The sums of individual items may not always equal the totals shown in the same tables because of rounding.

Employment estimates. Measures of sampling error for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Measures of sampling error for more detailed series at the area and division level are available upon request. Measures of sampling error for states down to the supersector level are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/web/laus/790stderr.htm. Measures of nonsampling error are not available for the areas contained in this news release. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/web/laus/benchmark.pdf.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on July 15, 2015. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wis. Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois; Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana; and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.

• The Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, Ill. Metropolitan Division includes Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois.
• The Elgin, Ill. Metropolitan Division includes DeKalb and Kane Counties.
• The Lake County-Kenosha County, Ill.-Wis. Metropolitan Division includes Lake County in Illinois and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.
• The Gary, Ind. Metropolitan Division includes Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter Counties in Indiana.

Additional information

More complete information on the technical procedures used to develop these estimates and additional data appear in Employment and Earnings, which is available online at www.bls.gov/opub/ee/home.htm. Industry employment data for states and metropolitan areas from the Current Employment Statistics program are also available in the above mentioned news releases and from the Internet at www.bls.gov/sae.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.