The local labor force remained flat in July as the influx of college graduates leveled off. That, coupled with a growth in employment caused the unemployment rate to decline 20 basis points to 6.1 percent.

1. Total jobs vs. unemployment rate: Chicago
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Job growth/loss by sector (12-month change): Chicago
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
Industrial employment trends (12-month change): Chicago
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
• The size of the local labor force remained flat in July as the influx of college
graduates leveled off. That, coupled with a growth in employment caused the
unemployment rate to decline 20 basis points to 6.1 percent.
• As is typically the case, Chicago’s office-using sectors dominated the hiring
by taking 38.6 percent of the 12-month total employment growth while the
industrial sectors accounted for 27.9 percent of the annual growth – both
positive signs for the Chicago real estate market.
• The U.S. labor market posted lower than expected job growth in August
totaling 173,000 net new jobs. This is well below the 200,000-250,000-range
more common in recent months. Nonetheless, gains in August increased
year-to-date job growth to roughly 1.7 million new jobs. •
• U.S. unemployment fell by 10 basis points to 5.1 percent, while
unemployment for college graduates continues to hover between 2.5 and 2.7
percent, slightly less than half the national rate, signifying labor shortage
challenges potentiallyimpeding growth in certain areas.
Employment Update
Metro Chicago | September 2015
5.1%U.S. unemployment
2.1%U.S. 12-month job growth
6.1%Chicago unemployment
1.5%Chicago 12-month job growth
5.8%Illinoisunemployment
0.9%Illinois12-month job growth
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
3,100,000
3,200,000
3,300,000
3,400,000
3,500,000
3,600,000
3,700,000
2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015
Peak: 3,840,379 jobs
3.9%
unemployment rate
total jobs
-3,200
-2,500
-500
100
5,700
8,500
8,700
10,100
10,300
19,000
Manufacturing
Financial Activities
Information
Other Services
Federal Government
Mining and Logging
Leisure & Hospitality
Educational & Health Services
Trade, Transportation & Utilities
Professional & Business Services
Number of Jobs
Office employment trends (12-month change): Chicago
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
-30.0
-20.0
-10.0
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Professional & Business Services
Information
Government
Financial Activities
-20.0
-10.0
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Trade, Transportation & Utilities
Manufacturing
Other Services
Mining, Logging & Construction

2. Industry employment stratification
Chicago
Source: JLL Research, Bureau of Labor Statistics
©2015 Jones Lang LaSalle IP, Inc. All rights reserved.
Employment statistics
Chicago
July 2013 July 2014 July 2015
Total Non-farm
Employment
3,549,300
1.8%
3,599,300
1.4%
3,655,500
1.6%
Unemployment Rate 10.4% 7.4% 6.1%
Chicago supersectors July 2013 July 2014 July 2015
Mining, Logging & Construction 118,500 4.2% 124,800 5.3% 133,300 6.8%
Manufacturing 281,500 -2.1% 280,000 -0.5% 276,800 -1.1%
Trade, Transportation,
& Utilities
709,000 1.5% 719,100 1.4% 729,400 1.4%
Information 71,500 0.0% 72,000 0.7% 71,500 -0.7%
Financial Activities 250,700 0.4% 251,600 0.4% 249,100 -1.0%
Professional & Business
Services
651,800 4.7% 670,800 2.9% 689,800 2.8%
Educational & Health Services 542,000 1.6% 553,400 2.1% 563,500 1.8%
Leisure & Hospitality 348,200 3.1% 351,700 1.0% 360,400 2.5%
Other Services 159,700 1.5% 162,100 1.5% 162,200 0.1%
Government 416,400 0.2% 413,800 -0.6% 419,500 1.4%
20%
19%
15%
11%
10%
8%
7%
4%
4% 2%
Trade, transportation and Utilities Professional and Business Services
Educational and Health Services Government
Leisure and Hospitality Manufacturing
Financial Activities Other Services
Mining, Logging and construction Information
For more information, please contact:
Christian Beaudoin │ christian.beaudoin@am.jll.com
Chicago Office
Joe Klosterman │ joe.klosterman@am.jll.com& Amy Binstein │ amy.binstein@am.jll.com
Chicago Industrial
Chad Buch │ chad.buch@am.jll.com & Paul Marsh │ paul.marsh@am.jll.com