World Business Chicago tracks indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including employment in major sectors, residential and office real estate data, price and purchasing indexes, freight demand, and auto and truck sales. Note: employment data refers to payroll job estimates for the city of Chicago and is not adjusted for seasonality.

Key trends evident this month include:

The Chicago (city) economy has expanded by an estimated 12,409 private-sector jobs since July 2013, mostly attributed to professional and business services (+7,950), education and health services (+4,923), and construction (+1,598) sectors.

Venture capital investment in the metro area increased to $133.4m during the second quarter of 2014, a 197.8% improvement from the same time period last year.

Median home sale prices in the city increased to $270,000 in July 2014, an 8.0% improvement compared to the same time period last year.

Passenger volume for O’Hare and Midway Airports grew by 581,966 people, a 7.0% YOY change since July 2013.

These and other trends are illustrated in this month’s Chicago By The Numbers.