{"schema_version": 1, "id": "kankakee-bradley-il-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09", "product": "Labor Market Pulse", "metro": {"geography_id": 225, "label": "Kankakee-Bradley, IL MSA", "slug": "kankakee-bradley-il-msa"}, "focus_area": {"key": "restaurant_industry", "slug": "restaurant-industry", "label": "Restaurant Industry"}, "period": "2026-09", "public_after": "2026-09-01", "frozen_at": "2026-10-09T13:33:44.763838+00:00", "headline": "Kankakee's soft labor market offers restaurants a shrinking window.", "headline_summary": "Total nonfarm jobs fell 2.1% year-over-year and unemployment hit 7.0% in February, giving Kankakee operators hiring leverage ahead of a 2,600-job EV-battery buildout.", "key_indicators": [{"label": "Kankakee nonfarm jobs YoY", "value": "-2.1%", "context": "-900 jobs, largest decline among IL metros"}, {"label": "Kankakee unemployment peak", "value": "7.0%", "context": "February 2026, largest IL metro increase"}, {"label": "National food-service job openings", "value": "673,000", "context": "Down from 916,000 in January 2026"}, {"label": "Illinois minimum wage", "value": "$15.00/hr", "context": "Unchanged 2026, vs Chicago's $17.05"}], "takeaways": [{"headline": "Kankakee's job losses make this a buyer's labor market \u2014 for now.", "body": "A 2.1% year-over-year drop in total nonfarm jobs and a metro unemployment rate that touched 7.0% in February indicate more available labor than the state average implies. Operators filling FOH and BOH roles may find faster time-to-fill and larger applicant pools than peer metros currently experiencing tighter conditions."}, {"headline": "Manager pay is rising even as line-level wages hold flat.", "body": "Restaurant Manager/GM advertised pay climbed to a $57,890 metro median against a declining national figure, while Line Cook pay actually fell to $35,204 locally. Widening management-to-crew pay spread suggests operators are competing harder to retain supervisory talent capable of managing cost and labor-efficiency initiatives than for entry-level staff."}, {"headline": "The EV-battery project is a labor-cost clock, not just an economic headline.", "body": "A $2 billion facility projected to create 2,600 jobs will eventually draw hourly workers away from food service, particularly BOH roles where over 70% of manufacturing positions require no degree. Compensation plans built on current flat-to-down advertised pay for cooks and crew should account for a tightening horizon rather than assume today's slack persists."}, {"headline": "Illinois's frozen minimum wage buys planning certainty Chicago operators lack.", "body": "Statewide minimum wage holds at $15.00 with no scheduled 2026 increases, unlike Chicago's climb to $17.05 and its phasing-out tip credit. Kankakee operators get a rare stretch of labor-cost predictability to reallocate savings toward retention rather than defensive wage compliance."}], "local_conditions": "Kankakee's labor market remains structurally soft even as national conditions stabilize \u2014 total nonfarm jobs fell 2.1% year-over-year and the metro unemployment rate spiked to 7.0% in February 2026 before easing, reflecting weakness that predates and outpaces the state's 4.7% August reading. Restaurant hiring here is unfolding against this backdrop of a shrinking labor base and a pending $2 billion EV-battery facility that promises 2,600 new manufacturing jobs \u2014 a dynamic that will eventually compete directly with food service for hourly labor.", "implications": "Soft local employment conditions combined with national food-service job openings dropping from 916,000 to 673,000 since January suggest operators currently have more hiring leverage than at any point in the past two years, making this a window to rebuild bench strength rather than simply fill vacancies. The approaching EV-battery buildout means that leverage is likely temporary \u2014 once construction and permanent hiring ramp, FOH and BOH labor pools will tighten as workers migrate toward higher-paying manufacturing roles. Consider using the current slack to lock in retention-focused scheduling and advancement pathways before the EV facility's hiring wave reaches full force.", "looking_ahead": [{"category": "Potential inflection point", "body": "Watch for early signs of EV-battery facility hiring activity \u2014 construction-phase labor demand could begin pulling BOH and entry-level workers out of restaurant roles well before the 2,600 permanent jobs materialize."}, {"category": "Expected", "body": "County-level unemployment data through September, delayed at publication, should clarify whether the metro's 7.0% February peak has meaningfully receded or if softness is persisting into Q4 hiring season."}, {"category": "Worth watching", "body": "National food-service job openings have fallen sharply since January; if that trend holds locally, expect continued easing in time-to-fill for FOH roles through year-end, reducing urgency for defensive wage increases."}, {"category": "Emerging pressure point", "body": "Manager-to-crew pay spread is widening locally while national Restaurant Manager pay declines \u2014 a divergence worth tracking to determine if Kankakee is a leading or lagging indicator for regional management compensation."}], "roles": [{"role": "Assistant Restaurant Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31789.0, "metro_p50": 38927.0, "metro_p75": 41778.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 39000.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Catering Manager", "data_scope": "state_rollup", "metro_p25": 39001.0, "metro_p50": 55120.0, "metro_p75": 61361.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 50960.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Crew", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 26387.5, "metro_p50": 32240.0, "metro_p75": 32760.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 29839.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Line Cook", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31200.0, "metro_p50": 35204.0, "metro_p75": 37440.0, "metro_trend_direction": "down", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 36826.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Restaurant Manager/General Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 49847.0, "metro_p50": 57890.0, "metro_p75": 57890.0, "metro_trend_direction": "up", "metro_trend_magnitude": "moderate", "national_p50": 59618.0, "national_trend_direction": "down", "national_trend_magnitude": "moderate"}, {"role": "Server", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 31200.0, "metro_p50": 35058.0, "metro_p75": 35058.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 35012.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}, {"role": "Shift Manager", "data_scope": "metro", "metro_p25": 29809.0, "metro_p50": 33800.0, "metro_p75": 35360.0, "metro_trend_direction": "stable", "metro_trend_magnitude": "stable", "national_p50": 32731.0, "national_trend_direction": "stable", "national_trend_magnitude": "stable"}], "industry_snapshot": [], "citations": [], "methodology": "Advertised pay from active employer job postings, not survey data. WageScape's median is calibrated to correct for spurious low-value postings: distribution analysis shows roughly the lowest 10% of raw values are erroneous entries, so the reported median is the 60th percentile of raw advertised pay.", "edition_label": "October 2026", "files": {"html": "kankakee-bradley-il-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.html", "pdf": "kankakee-bradley-il-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.pdf"}, "published_at": "2026-10-09T13:52:04.465556+00:00", "report_html_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/kankakee-bradley-il-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.html", "report_pdf_url": "https://reports.wagescape.com/archive/v1/editions/kankakee-bradley-il-msa/restaurant-industry/2026-09.pdf"}