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Downtown Dominates in Chicago-Area Jobs Growth

The big growth story in Chicago-area employment since the recession ended has been downtown, according to a Crain’s Chicago Business analysis of newly-released Illinois Department of Employment Security data. Between March 2010 and March 2018, CBD employment grew by 133,715 jobs, or 27.9%—double the metro area’s pace and the fastest since World War II.

Downtown’s jobs dominance also extends to nearer-term growth. Over the 12 months that ended in March, the CBD’s employment grew by 3.25%. That compares to 1.5% for the city of Chicago overall, and 1.1% for the region during the same time period.

Other areas of the Chicago region have also fared well. Private-sector employment grew by 3.1% year over year in Will County, and by 2.9% in Lake County.

However, Cook County outside of Chicago managed only 1.1% Y-O-Y employment growth. Outside of downtown, the city’s employment overall has declined in the past year.


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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 16-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 7-10 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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