Manufacturing jobs blow into the Windy City as move-in rates tick up

Chicago’s manufacturing space development and tenant year-over-year move-in gains since mid-2021 are steadily increasing as employment improves for this sector, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. From August 2023 to 2024, this sector expanded by 2.1%, or 8,700 new jobs, while year-over-year absorption, or the net value of move-ins, climbed almost a half-million square feet over the prior year.