2014 Annual Economic Indicators

Below is the annual economic indicators report for 2014.

Sales Tax Receipts

DuPage County total sales tax receipts for 2014 were $1.3 billion, compared to $1.2 billion in 2013. This represents an increase of 3.14%.

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate in DuPage County dropped from 6.6% at the end of 2013 to 4.2%  by the end of 2014. DuPage County continues to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the State, and the lowest within the region.

Job Growth

In 2014 we saw a 1% increase in job growth throughout the region, including DuPage County. The Management, Real Estate, and Administrative sectors saw the greatest growth during this time at 8%, 6% and 5%, respectively. The industry sectors with most overall jobs included retail, healthcare and administrative.

Office Vacancy Rates

At the end of 2014, office vacancy rates within DuPage County fell to 17%, down from the previous quarter, but still a little higher than the 2013 end-of-year vacancy rate of 16.6%. It is important to note that 2014 ended strong, with the region absorbing 1.1 million square-feet of office space in the fourth quarter alone. Some major recent office space transactions in DuPage County included:

Industrial Vacancy Rates

Moving to industrial vacancy rates, DuPage County has seen a steady decline over the past two years, and for the most part continued that trend in 2014, closing the year with an industrial vacancy rate of 5.6%, down from 6.3% in 2013. DuPage County had the lowest industrial vacancy rate in the region at the end of 2013 and continues to have lowest industrial vacancy at year end-2014. This represents significant growth and strong market strength in warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing. Please feel free to contact Greg Bedalov, or any member of the Choose DuPage staff with questions or comments.