This program produces a comprehensive quarterly count of employment and wages for workers covered under the Illinois Unemployment and Insurance (UI) Act and the Federal Unemployment Compensation programs. QCEW data is sometimes referred to as covered employment and wages. For more information, see our
overview of QCEW program.
Note: QCEW data are not designed as a time series. QCEW data are simply the sums of individual establishment records and reflect the number of business establishments that exist in a county or industry at a point in time. Businesses can move in or out of a county or industry for a number of reasons - some reflecting economic events, others reflecting administrative changes. For example, economic change would come from a business relocating into the county; administrative change would come from a business correcting its county designation.
Note:
In 2016, IDES instituted a policy to deactivate employer accounts with zero employment and zero wages for eight or more quarters. In 2017, a new tax system became operational which allowed for the deactivation of accounts that should have been deactivated earlier. In the future, accounts will be deactivated on a scheduled basis. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of business establishments previously considered active. The number of establishments had previously been overstated. The new policy did not change totals for employment or wages, only the total number of business establishments.
Establishments, by Employer Size Category (Tables and Charts)
(Tabulation of business establishments, by employment size category, by geographical area (county or state), by either ownership or NAICS-industry sector)
Employing establishments can be characterized by employment size category [0-4; 5-9; 10-19; 20-49; 50-99; 100-249; 250-499; and 500 or more]; and ownership [Federal, State, Local Government or Private Sector]; within geographies such as Local Workforce Investment Areas (LWIAs) or Statewide; and by NAICS industry sectors. The reports listed below are tabulations based on these data elements.
Percent distribution of employees by size of business establishment in selected private industries, March 2020
2020 Number of Establishments by Size Category, by Geography (Illinois and Local Workforce Investment Area), and by Ownership (Excel)
