Evanston's unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in May, up from 4.4% in April, according to data the Illinois Department of Employment Security released Friday, June 26.

The 0.2-point increase ends two months of stability. Evanston's rate had held at 4.4% through both March and April 2026.

Evanston Now reported the city's rate remains below the statewide figure. Nationally, unemployment stood at 4.3% in May.

The May 2026 rate of 4.6% is two-tenths above where Evanston stood one year earlier, when the city recorded 4.4% in May 2025 before climbing to 5.0% by July 2025. At that summer peak, about 2,000 residents were out of work in a labor force of roughly 40,500.

Evanston's 2025 monthly data, compiled by the city's Economic Development Division under manager Paul Zalmezak, showed rates rising through summer before easing in fall. The city's 2024 annual average was 5.2%, well above the 3.7% average in 2023.