Total nonfarm employment for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area stood at 4,694,000 in February 2020, up 30,200, or 0.6 percent, over the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. During the same period, the national job count increased by 1.6 percent. (See chart 1 and table 1.) 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. (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 37,500 jobs from February a year ago. The remaining three areas posted declines or had little employment change over the year.

Industry employment

In the greater Chicago metropolitan area, education and health services had the largest employment gain from February 2019 to February 2020, adding 20,300 jobs. The Chicago area’s 2.8-percent rate of job growth in education and health services compared to the nationwide advance of 2.7 percent. (See chart 2.)

Chicago’s government supersector added 5,900 jobs from February 2019 to February 2020. Local employment growth in the supersector was concentrated in the Chicago division, which added 4,600 jobs. The 1.1-percent increase in Chicago’s government employment compared to a gain of 1.0 percent nationally.

Financial activities added 4,500 jobs over the year, the third-largest employment gain in the Chicago area. The Chicago division, which accounted for nearly 90 percent of the area’s financial activities employment, added 6,000 jobs. The local rate of job growth at 1.4 percent compared to the national increase of 1.9 percent.

Three other local supersectors each gained between 2,500 and 1,300 jobs from February a year ago: construction (+2,400); trade, transportation, and utilities (+2,300); and leisure and hospitality (+1,300). The Chicago area’s construction industry job growth rate of 1.5 percent was lower than the 2.9-percent national increase. Trade, transportation, and utilities employment increased 0.2 percent in the Chicago area compared to the national increase of 0.4 percent. The leisure and hospitality industry supersector’s local job growth rate of 0.3 percent was lower than the 2.6-percent national increase during the February 2019 to February 2020 period.

Manufacturing employment in the Chicago area fell by 7,500 over the year, a 1.8-percent decline.  Nationally, employment in the manufacturing sector increased by 0.2 percent. 

Employment in the 12 largest metropolitan areas

Chicago was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in February 2020. All 12 areas had over-the-year job growth during the period, with the rates of job growth in 6 areas above the national average of 1.6 percent. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington had the fastest rate of job growth, up 3.4 percent, followed by Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale at 3.2 percent. Chicago (+0.6 percent) had the slowest rate of job growth. (See chart 3 and table 2.)

Dallas added the largest number of jobs over the year, 126,000, followed by Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, with 103,100 jobs, and New York-Newark-Jersey City (+100,100). Boston-Cambridge-Nashua had the smallest employment gain over the year (+25,100), followed by Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach (+28,900). Annual gains in the remaining seven metropolitan areas ranged from 69,800 in Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale to 29,200 in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington.

Over the year, education and health services added the most jobs in eight areas: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. Professional and business services added the most jobs in the four remaining areas.

Manufacturing lost the most jobs in five areas: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward. Boston had an equal number of job losses in manufacturing and other services. Dallas, Phoenix, and Washington-Arlington-Alexandria were the only areas to experience job gains in all supersectors from February 2019 to February 2020.

Metropolitan area employment data for March 2020 are scheduled to be released on Friday, April 17, 2020.

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/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.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 and for the private service-providing, goods-producing, total private and total nonfarm levels are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/additional-resources/reliability-of-state-and-area-estimates.htm. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available online at www.bls.gov/sae/publications/benchmark-article/annual-benchmark-article.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 April 10, 2018. A detailed list of the geographic definitions is available at www.bls.gov/lau/lausmsa.htm.

The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI 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, IL Metropolitan Division includes Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, McHenry, and Will Counties in Illinois.
• The Elgin, IL Metropolitan Division includes DeKalb and Kane Counties.
• The Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI Metropolitan Division includes Lake County in Illinois and Kenosha County in Wisconsin.
• The Gary, IN 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 CES program are also available in the news release State Employment and Unemployment and from the BLS website 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.