SPRINGFIELD - Over-the-year, total nonfarm jobs increased in all fourteen metropolitan areas for the year ending May 2023, according to data released today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the Illinois Department of Employment Security (DES). Over-the-year, the unemployment rate increased in seven metropolitan areas, decreased in four, and was unchanged in three.

"Illinois continues to experience steady, persistent job growth across the state, a trend that has continued for more than two years," said Deputy Governor Andy Manar. "IDES remains a critical resource connecting workers and employers to fill newly created positions as job growth expansion continues across industries and metro areas."

The metro areas which had the largest over-the-year percentage increases in total nonfarm jobs were the Bloomington MSA (+3.2%, +3,200), the Peoria MSA (+2.9%, +4,900), and the Champaign-Urbana MSA (+2.7%, +3,200). Total nonfarm jobs in the Chicago Metro Division were up +1.6% or +61,500.Industries that saw job growth in a majority of metro areas included: Government (fourteen areas); Education and Health Services, Leisure and Hospitality, and Other Services (eleven areas each); Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities (nine areas); and Manufacturing (eight areas).

The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate increases were the Danville MSA (+0.5 point to 5.2%), the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL MSA (+0.5 point to 3.9%), and the Lake-Kenosha County IL-WI Metro (+0.4 point to 4.1%). The metro areas with the largest unemployment rate decreases were the Chicago Metro (-1.3 percentage points to 3.2%), a record low unemployment rate for the month of May, followed by the Rockford MSA (-0.3 point to 5.9%) and the Carbondale-Marion MSA (-0.2 point to 4.0%).

Unemployment Rates (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Metropolitan Area	May 2023*	May 2022**	Over-the-Year Change
Bloomington	3.5%	3.5%	0.0
Carbondale-Marion	4.0%	4.2%	-0.2
Champaign-Urbana	3.7%	3.6%	0.1
Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights	3.2%	4.5%	-1.3
Danville	5.2%	4.7%	0.5
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL	3.9%	3.4%	0.5
Decatur	5.4%	5.4%	0.0
Elgin	4.3%	4.1%	0.2
Kankakee	5.0%	4.9%	0.1
Lake-Kenosha, IL-WI	4.1%	3.7%	0.4
Peoria	4.4%	4.3%	0.1
Rockford	5.9%	6.2%	-0.3
Springfield	3.8%	3.9%	-0.1
St. Louis (IL-Section)	3.7%	3.7%	0.0
Illinois Statewide	3.6%	4.4%	-0.8
* Preliminary  I  ** Revised

Total Nonfarm Jobs (Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Metropolitan Area	May	May	Over-the-Year
	2023*	2022**	Change
Bloomington MSA	98,200	95,200	3,000
Carbondale-Marion MSA	57,200	56,500	700
Champaign-Urbana MSA	122,700	119,500	3,200
Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights Metro Division	3,804,100	3,742,600	61,500
Danville MSA	27,200	27,000	200
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island MSA	185,500	182,700	2,800
Decatur MSA	48,900	48,000	900
Elgin Metro Division	267,300	260,600	6,700
Kankakee MSA	43,300	43,200	100
Lake-County-Kenosha County Metro Division	423,700	416,500	7,200
Peoria MSA	173,700	168,800	4,900
Rockford MSA	146,400	146,200	200
Springfield MSA	109,500	108,700	800
Illinois Section of St. Louis MSA	241,300	241,000	300
Illinois Statewide	6,150,100	6,030,300	119,800
*Preliminary | **Revised

Not Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates

(percent) for Local Counties and Areas

Labor Market Area	May 2023	May 2022	Over the Year Change
Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Metro Division
Cook County	3.4 %	4.8 %	-1.4
DuPage County	2.6 %	3.5 %	-0.9
Grundy County	3.2 %	4.5 %	-1.3
Kendall County	2.8 %	3.7 %	-0.9
McHenry County	2.8 %	3.7 %	-0.9
Will County	3.1 %	4.3 %	-1.2
Elgin, IL Metro Division
DeKalb County	4.1 %	4.1 %	0.0
Kane County	4.4 %	4.1 %	0.3
Lake & Kenosha, IL-WI Metro Division
Lake County (IL)	4.3 %	3.8 %	0.5
Kankakee, IL MSA
Kankakee County	5.0 %	4.9 %	0.1
Cities
Aurora City	3.7 %	3.9 %	-0.2
Chicago City	3.6 %	5.1 %	-1.5
Elgin City	4.7 %	5.2 %	-0.5
Joliet City	3.7 %	5.1 %	-1.4
Kankakee City	6.9 %	6.9 %	0.0
Naperville City	2.7 %	3.4 %	-0.7

* Unemployment rates for cities with total population of 25,000 or more can be found at https://www2.illinois.gov/ides/lmi/Pages/Local_Area_Unemployment_Statistics.aspx

Chicago-Naperville-Arlington Heights, IL Metro Division

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased to 3.2 percent in May 2023 from 4.5 percent in May 2022.

Total nonfarm employment increased +61,500 compared to May 2022. The Leisure-Hospitality (+28,400) and Educational-Health Services (+27,000) sectors had the largest payroll gains over the year. Employment declines were reported in Professional-Business Services (-5,600), Information (-2,600) and Retail Trade (-2,400).

Elgin, IL Metro Division

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.3 percent in May 2023 from 4.1 percent in May 2022.

Total nonfarm employment increased +6,700 compared to May 2022. Government (+2,300), Educational-Health Services (+2,000) and Professional-Business Services (+1,800) sectors had the largest payroll gains over the year. The Construction (-1,400) and Retail Trade (-700) sectors had employment declines from a year ago.

Lake & Kenosha Counties, IL-WI Metro Division

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 4.1 percent in May 2023 from 3.7 percent in May 2022.

Total nonfarm employment increased +7,200 compared to May 2022. Leisure-Hospitality (+2,800), Retail Trade (+1,900), Educational-Health Services (+1,400) and Manufacturing (+1,000) sectors had the largest payroll gains over the year. Financial Activities (-500), Construction (-200) and Information (-100) sectors had employment declines from a year ago.

Kankakee, IL MSA

The not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 5.0 percent in May 2023 from 4.9 percent in May 2022.

Total nonfarm employment increased +100 compared to May 2022. Government (+300), Wholesale Trade (+100) and Leisure-Hospitality (+100) sectors had payroll gains over the year. The Manufacturing (-200), Professional-Business Services (-100), Transportation-Warehousing-Utilities (-100), and Construction (-100) sectors recorded employment declines compared to one year ago.

Note: Monthly 2022 unemployment rates and total nonfarm jobs for Illinois metro areas were revised in February and March 2023, as required by the U.S. BLS. Comments and tables distributed for prior metro area news releases should be discarded as any records or historical analysis previously cited may no longer be valid. The official monthly unemployment rate series for metro areas, counties and most cities begins in 1990. The official monthly nonfarm jobs series for metro areas begins in 1990 and for non-metropolitan counties it begins in 1999.

Disclaimer: The data contained in the metro area employment numbers press releases are not seasonally adjusted, and therefore are subject to seasonal fluctuations due to factors such as changes in weather, harvests, major holidays, and school schedules. Current monthly metro data should be compared to the same month from prior years (February 2023 data compared to February 2022 data) as data for these months have similar seasonal patterns. Comparisons should not be made to data for the immediate previous month or other previous non-matching months, as any changes in the data within these time periods may be the result of seasonal fluctuations and not economic factors.