Gramercy Property Trust just bought this new building at 8901 W. 47th St. in McCook, IL, for $39.5 million, the largest purchase in the third quarter.

CHICAGO—The latest numbers on the Chicago region's industrial market have come out, and it's hard to discern any bad news. The market is on an incredibly healthy run, as users keep up a steady demand for space that developers are attempting to fulfill with a series of groundbreakings.

And a strong regional job market means this expansion is likely to continue through 2017. According to Avison Young's third quarter industrial market report, the metro area added more than 62,200 jobs this year as of August 2016, up 1.3% year-over-year, and the unemployment rate remained relatively unchanged at 5.4%. The sectors that recorded the highest year-over-year growth in employment were construction; leisure and hospitality. However, the manufacturing sector continued to see minimal growth.

“The main driver of the industrial market is e-commerce,” Greg Rogalla, research analyst, tells GlobeSt.com. That activity helped the market record a sizable boost in leasing activity and net absorption. Vacancy trended downward for the eighth consecutive quarter, and surpassed its prerecession level.