Kane County committee hears staff report on unusual unemployment spike, seeks more granular job data

The Kane County Jobs & Economic Development Committee on Feb. 20 heard staff warn of an unusually sharp rise in unemployment in late 2025 and pressed for more detailed, local-level data.

Vice Chair Deborah Allen opened the meeting and turned it over to Chris Toth, an economic development staff member, who presented raw (non-seasonally adjusted) unemployment figures through December 2025 and noted an October data gap. "What's not on this table is the U.S. unemployment rate for January, which shot up half a percent to 4.6%," Toth said, adding that Kane County’s local trend showed an unexpected rise between November and December that staff could not yet fully explain.

The committee discussed possible drivers, including short-term construction cycles and automation. Members noted local retail and restaurant closures and asked whether the county could break unemployment and business-opening/closure data down to municipal or census-tract levels. Board member Roth said local data showing how many businesses closed or opened in a period would be helpful; Toth replied that the county could work with regional partners such as World Business Chicago but cautioned that more granular datasets often lag and require additional analysis.

Workforce Development staff described the three-county workforce partnership—with Kane County serving as fiscal agent—and the Batavia comprehensive one-stop center that connects jobseekers to Title I–IV services and to community college partners. The staff member said the program tracks participants and outcomes as part of grant reporting and that reports will be brought to the committee on a regular basis. "We track that daily, monthly," the workforce representative said, and noted the office uses partners to provide training and referral services across Kane, DeKalb and Kendall counties.

The workforce representative gave an example of employer-focused support: "We just got that approved through the state for a $29,000 grant to be able to assist [Wise Plastics] in their upskilling and training of their employees," demonstrating how small grants are used to offset employer training costs.

Members asked the staff to develop a dashboard comparing industry verticals year over year and to provide clearer counts of how many individuals enter training, complete credentials and obtain employment. Staff said they will pursue these requests as the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) ramps up and a director hire is finalized.

The committee did not take policy actions on the unemployment findings at the meeting; it asked staff to return with clearer, more granular metrics and to coordinate with regional partners to improve the timing and specificity of local employment indicators. The meeting concluded after routine procedural approvals and an adjournment motion.