Total nonfarm employment for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, metropolitan area stood at 4,832,300 in November 2023 compared to 4,789,000 a year ago, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Regional Commissioner Jason Palmer noted that the employment change over the year was not statistically significant. Nationally, employment rose 1.8 percent over the year. (All data in this release are not seasonally adjusted; accordingly, over-the-year analysis is used throughout.)

  

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Chart 1. Over-the-year net change for total nonfarm employment in the Chicago metropolitan area, November 2020–November 2023

Period	Net change (in thousands)
Nov 2020	-382.4
Dec 2020	-385.1
Jan 2021	-365.7
Feb 2021	-339.5
Mar 2021	-273.7
Apr 2021	362.4
May 2021	350.9
Jun 2021	284.6
Jul 2021	225.8
Aug 2021	176.4
Sep 2021	160.3
Oct 2021	175.4
Nov 2021	226.1
Dec 2021	249.3
Jan 2022	222.1
Feb 2022	220.5
Mar 2022	215.9
Apr 2022	206.5
May 2022	207.6
Jun 2022	185.7
Jul 2022	202.6
Aug 2022	197.6
Sep 2022	190.7
Oct 2022	153.7
Nov 2022	132.0
Dec 2022	99.9
Jan 2023	119.3
Feb 2023	94.1
Mar 2023	76.0
Apr 2023	80.2
May 2023	84.9
Jun 2023	92.6
Jul 2023	62.1
Aug 2023	52.5
Sep 2023	65.0
Oct 2023	40.9
Nov 2023	43.3

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, is made up of four metropolitan divisions—separately identifiable employment centers within the greater metropolitan area. Employment in Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL, was 3,853,700 and accounted for 80 percent of the metropolitan area's total nonfarm employment. Lake County-Kenosha County, IL-WI, employed 422,100, accounting for 9 percent of the area’s employment, while Elgin, IL, and Gary, IN, each accounted for 6 percent of the area’s employment. Employment levels for these four divisions were little changed over the year.

In Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, education and health services had the largest gain (+34,800) among the metropolitan area’s private-industry supersectors. (See chart 2.) The Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL, division added 30,700 jobs, or 88 percent of the metropolitan area’s employment gain in this industry, and 28,800 of those jobs were in the health care and social assistance sector. The 4.7-percent rise in the metropolitan area’s education and health services supersector compared to the 4.2-percent gain at the national level. No other supersectors in the metropolitan area reported a significant over-the-year job change in November.

  

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Chart 2. Over-the-year net change for industry supersector employment in the Chicago metropolitan area, November 2023

Industry	Net change (in thousands)
Education and health services*	34.8
Leisure and hospitality	8.1
Financial activities	6.3
Manufacturing	4.4
Construction	2.6
Other services	1.2
Trade, transportation, and utilities	1.0
Mining and logging	0.1
Information	-5.8
Professional and business services	-18.8
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI, was 1 of the nation’s 12 largest metropolitan statistical areas in November 2023. Ten of twelve areas gained total nonfarm payroll employment over the year. The largest job gains occurred in Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, (+139,700) and New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA (+122,200). Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ, had the smallest employment increase (+43,900), followed by Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (+48,400), among the areas with significant changes. (See table 2 and chart 3.)

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, had a 3.3-percent rate of job gain. The rates of job gain in the remaining nine areas with significant changes ranged from 3.0 percent in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL, to 1.2 percent in New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA.

  

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Chart 3. Over-the-year net change in total nonfarm employment for the 12 largest metropolitan areas, November 2023 (in thousands)

Area	Net change (in thousands)
Dallas*	139.7
New York*	122.2
Los Angeles*	107.0
Miami*	86.2
Philadelphia*	83.9
Houston*	77.8
Atlanta*	76.5
Boston*	68.6
Washington*	48.4
Phoenix*	43.9
Chicago	43.3
San Francisco	27.3
Note: An asterisk indicates statistical significance at the 90-percent confidence level. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment release for December 2023 is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. (ET).

This release presents nonfarm payroll employment estimates from the CES program. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative endeavor between State employment security agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. More information about the CES data is available in the State Employment and Unemployment Summary and the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment Summary.

Definitions. Employment data refer to persons on establishment payrolls who receive pay for any part of the pay period which 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 2022 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 estimates are produced with a model that uses direct sample estimates (described above) combined with other regressors to compensate for smaller sample sizes.

Annual revisions. Employment estimates are adjusted annually to a complete count of jobs, called benchmarks, derived principally from tax reports which 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. Information on recent benchmark revisions is available in the CES State and Area benchmark article.

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 totals shown in the same tables due to rounding.

Employment estimates. Changes in metropolitan area nonfarm payroll employment are cited in the analysis of this release only if they have been determined to be statistically significant at the 90-percent confidence level. Reliability of state and area estimates for the total nonfarm employment series are available for metropolitan areas and metropolitan divisions.

Area definitions. The substate area data published in this news release reflect the delineations issued by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget on April 10, 2018. The 12 metropolitan areas discussed in this release are the metropolitan areas with the largest population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Employment data from the CES program are available on the BLS website at www.bls.gov/sae/.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.