DuPage County boasts lowest unemployment in region; higher annual salary than both state and national average.

Choose DuPage has released its 2019 Second Quarter Economic Indicators Report, with mid-year data supporting continued low unemployment and a consistent pattern of growth for business and industry. Unemployment in DuPage County dropped to 2.8 percent – the lowest unemployment rate in the region. DuPage County continues to attract new businesses, with numerous groundbreaking events taking place over the past several months—while industrial vacancies remain low and office vacancies continue to decline.

2019 Mid-Year Report Highlights:

• DuPage County consistently maintains the lowest unemployment rate in the region, dropping from 3.2 percent in the first quarter to 2.8 percent; lower than both the State of Illinois (4.4 percent) and the United States (3.6 percent).
• The average annual salary in DuPage County increased by more than $1,000 since this time last year to $62,570 – higher than both the state ($57,974) and national ($55,825) averages.
• Since this time last year, industrial vacancy rates decrease from 5.2 percent to 4.5 percent; while the office vacancy rate dropped from 14.7 percent to 14 percent.

The continued decrease in industrial vacancy has led to a number of spec development projects and company expansions in the region during the first half of the year. Most recently, Conor Commercial Real Estate completed construction in early July on North Avenue Commerce Center, a 265,550-square-foot, Class A industrial facility and the largest commercial development in Winfield’s history. DuPage also experienced a number of office transactions in Q2, including international manufacturer WernerCo relocating its global headquarters to Hamilton Lakes in Itasca from out-of-state, and Edward-Elmhurst Health (EEH) announcing it will be relocating and expanding later this year to the former Navistar Headquarters in Warrenville, which has been empty since the truck maker moved its home office to Lisle in 2011. EEH will occupy 188,000 square feet where it will move roughly 1,000 employees.

“The demand for quality industrial space in DuPage continues to rise, as well as the number of businesses calling DuPage County home,” said Lisa Miceli, vice president of economic development for Choose DuPage. “Several exciting projects came to fruition in just the past few months. This is an exciting time for economic development in DuPage County.”

DuPage County is home to nearly 90,000 businesses representing 653,413 jobs across a variety of industries. Employment data indicates current top industries based on employment include healthcare and social assistance (75,959 jobs), professional, scientific and technical services (64,480 jobs), retail trade (61,544 jobs), admin/support/waste management and remediation services (59,049 jobs) and manufacturing (57,130 jobs).

Click here to view the Choose DuPage 2019 Second Quarter Economic Indicators Report.