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Cook County, IL jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Cook County’s unemployment rate is 4.7%. Employers filed 48 layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 8,398 open professional jobs are in its cities.

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Cook County economy

  • 4.7%

    unemployment, Sep 2026

    4.3% the month before

  • 2,707,866

    in the labor force

    Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics

  • 5,185,812

    people in Cook County

    Source: U.S. Census Bureau

  • $81,797

    median household income

    Source: Census ACS

  • 46%

    of workers in white-collar occupations

    Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Where Cook County ranks

Where Cook County placed in our monthly rankings, month by month. Each month stays online at its own address.

November 2026

Cook County outlook: Cooling

Built from public Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census figures. It describes the area, not any one employer in it.

  • Private-sector jobs up 2.0% from 2022 to 2025
  • Population down 1.3% from 2020 to 2025
  • Unemployment 4.7%, up 0.4 points from a year ago
  • Sectors adding the most jobs: health care (+38,037 jobs), hotels & food (+18,561 jobs)
  • Sectors losing the most jobs: admin & staffing (−15,140 jobs), professional & technical (−6,118 jobs)

Local job-market news

Recent headlines about layoffs, AI and jobs in Cook County. Each link goes to the publisher.

Learn and get funded in Cook County

Cook County layoffs

  • 48

    Layoff notices, last 12 months

  • 8,172

    workers named

    A floor: states may leave out counts

  • 40

    employers

Layoff notices filed in Cook County, newest first
Notice dateEmployerCity or countyWorkersTypeSource
Medline IndustriesNorthfield304—State record
Koppers Carbon Materials LLCStickney60ClosureState record
Success Lending, LLCSchaumburg121ClosureState record
Volante of Arlington HeightsArlington Heights61—State record
Uber Technologies, Inc.Chicago363—State record
Fulton Troika, LLCChicago109ClosureState record
TV Hardware Distribution, LLCChicago116ClosureState record
Silver Star Protection GroupRolling Meadows64—State record
SCR Medical Transportation LLCChicago241—State record
Simon Bros. Bakery, LLCSkokie89ClosureState record
Techmer PM, LLCElk Grove Village68ClosureState record
Republic National Distributing Company, LLCNiles180ClosureState record
Eklind Tool Co.Franklin Park112ClosureState record
MDMartin LLCMatteson160—State record
WargamingChicago29—State record

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Cook County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

  1. Publicis Groupe162 open roles
  2. Mars124 open roles
  3. Confidential113 open roles
  4. Arthur J. Gallagher80 open roles
  5. Gallagher Bassett77 open roles
  6. Gallagher75 open roles
  7. Amazon72 open roles
  8. West Monroe71 open roles
  9. UL Solutions62 open roles
  10. Sargent & Lundy56 open roles

Largest employers headquartered in Cook County

Employee counts with a year are published figures (Wikidata). Other sizes are estimates from our company directory, not payroll counts.

Colleges in Cook County

Colleges in Cook County
CollegeCityTypeStudents
DePaul UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year20,000+
Northwestern UniversityEvanstonPrivate non-profit 4-year20,000+
University of Illinois ChicagoChicagoPublic 4-year20,000+
Loyola University ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year10,000–19,999
University of ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year10,000–19,999
Columbia College ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year5,000–9,999
Illinois Institute of TechnologyChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year5,000–9,999
National Louis UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year5,000–9,999
Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicagoPublic 4-year5,000–9,999
Adler UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Chicago State UniversityChicagoPublic 4-year1,000–4,999
Concordia University-ChicagoRiver ForestPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Dominican UniversityRiver ForestPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Moody Bible InstituteChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
North Park UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Roosevelt UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Rush UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
Saint Xavier UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
School of the Art Institute of ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
The Chicago School at ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-year1,000–4,999
American Islamic CollegeChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Bexley Hall Seabury Western Theological Seminary Federation, Inc.ChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Catholic Theological Union at ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Chicago Theological SeminaryChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
East-West UniversityChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Erikson InstituteChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Garrett-Evangelical Theological SeminaryEvanstonPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Hebrew Theological CollegeSkokiePrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Illinois College of OptometryChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Institute for Clinical Social WorkChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Lutheran School of Theology at ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
McCormick Theological SeminaryChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Meadville Theological School of Lombard CollegeChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Spertus CollegeChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
St. Augustine CollegeChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Telshe Yeshiva-ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Toyota Technological Institute at ChicagoChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
Trinity Christian CollegePalos HeightsPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000
VanderCook College of MusicChicagoPrivate non-profit 4-yearUnder 1,000

Conferences in Cook County

Industry conferences and trade shows held in Cook County. 71 with dates announced.

Showing 12 of 103 conferences, 71 with dates announced.

All conferences

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Cook County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Laid off in Illinois? How to file for unemployment in Illinois (steps, weekly amount and the appeal deadline).

  • American Job Center at the King Center

    Chicago · Comprehensive · 773-538-5627

    Monday 08:30-17:00, Tuesday 08:30-17:00, Wednesday 08:30-17:00, Thursday 08:30-17:00, Friday 08:30-17:00,

  • American Job Center at Truman College

    Chicago · Comprehensive

    Monday - Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

  • American Job Center in Pilsen

    Chicago · Comprehensive · 312-994-8305

    Monday 08:30-17:00, Tuesday 08:30-17:00, Wednesday 08:30-17:00, Thursday 08:30-17:00, Friday 08:30-17:00

  • American Job Center Kennedy King at College

    Chicago · Affiliate · 773-572-2049

    Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm

  • Southwest American Job Center at Daley College

    Chicago · Affiliate · 773-884-7000

    Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM

  • The American Job Center at Malcolm X College West Campus

    Chicago · Affiliate · 773-722-3885

    Monday - Thursday 8:30AM - 5:00PM Fridays 8:30am-3pm

  • South Suburban Cook County American Job Center at Prairie State College

    Chicago Heights · Comprehensive

    Monday-Friday 8:30-4:30

  • Workforce Development Division - Gail Borden Library

    Elgin · Affiliate · 847-742-2411

    Monday - Friday 8:00AM - 5:00PM

  • American Job Center in Maywood

    Maywood · Affiliate · 708-223-2652

    Monday-Friday 08:30-17:00

  • American Job Center in North Riverside

    North Riverside · Affiliate · 708-222-3100

    8:30am -5:00pm Monday - Friday

  • Safer Foundation (South Holland)

    South Holland · Affiliate · 708-596-0037

    Monday -Friday 8:30AM - 4:30PM (Open by appointment only due to COVID-19)

  • American Job Center in Wheeling

    Wheeling Illinois · Comprehensive · 847-484-8187

    Monday 08:30-17:00, Tuesday 08:30-17:00, Wednesday 08:30-17:00, Thursday 08:30-17:00, Friday 08:30-17:00

Cities in Cook County

Show all 68

Other Illinois counties

All of Illinois

Laid off or looking for work in Cook County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); layoff notices from Illinois’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers. Illinois unemployment benefits and severance rules.

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