# All Employees: General Merchandise Retailers — Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division (NSA)

All Employees: General Merchandise Retailers — Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL Metropolitan Division (NSA) was up 1.3% year on year in September 2026, compared with −0.1% in August 2026.
The level stood at 68.10 thousands.
That is the highest reading since May 2024.
Over the past ten years it has ranged from −17.7% (Apr 2020) to 19.3% (May 2021), averaging −0.4%.

- Source agency: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (flat files)
- Makrognosis code: `US-16984.PAYEMS.M.NSA.IND-42455000`
- Frequency: monthly
- Units: thousands
- Coverage: 1990-01-01 to 2026-09-01 (441 observations)
- Page: https://makrognosis.robomacro.com/data/united-states/all-employees-general-merchandise-retailers-chicago-naperville

## Recent data

| Period | Value | Y/Y % |
|---|---:|---:|
| September 2026 | 68.10 thousands | 1.3 |
| August 2026 | 67.50 thousands | −0.1 |
| July 2026 | 66.90 thousands | −0.7 |
| June 2026 | 67.10 thousands | 0.0 |
| May 2026 | 66.70 thousands | 0.3 |
| April 2026 | 66.40 thousands | −0.2 |
| March 2026 | 66.40 thousands | −0.2 |
| February 2026 | 66.50 thousands | −0.6 |
| January 2026 | 67.90 thousands | −1.3 |
| December 2025 | 72.20 thousands | −2.3 |
| November 2025 | 71.00 thousands | −2.6 |
| October 2025 | 68.10 thousands | −1.7 |
| September 2025 | 67.20 thousands | −0.1 |
| August 2025 | 67.60 thousands | 0.1 |
| July 2025 | 67.40 thousands | −0.3 |
| June 2025 | 67.10 thousands | −0.1 |
| May 2025 | 66.50 thousands | −0.4 |
| April 2025 | 66.50 thousands | 0.3 |
| March 2025 | 66.50 thousands | −0.2 |
| February 2025 | 66.90 thousands | 0.5 |
| January 2025 | 68.80 thousands | −0.6 |
| December 2024 | 73.90 thousands | 0.3 |
| November 2024 | 72.90 thousands | −0.4 |
| October 2024 | 69.30 thousands | 0.7 |

## API

```
curl -H "X-API-Key: $MAKROGNOSIS_KEY" \
  "https://makrognosis.robomacro.com/v1/series/US-16984.PAYEMS.M.NSA.IND-42455000"

# Python
import requests
r = requests.get("https://makrognosis.robomacro.com/v1/series/US-16984.PAYEMS.M.NSA.IND-42455000",
                 headers={"X-API-Key": KEY})
obs = r.json()["observations"]
```