Generated evidence · pending editorial review

New City: All categories · Ward: 12 — Business licenses

All categories · Ward: 12

City source retrieved November 5, 2026 · scan evaluated November 9, 2026 · Review context · not a qualifying candidate

Current dashboard records may have been revised. Analyze is a separate action there. Saved-for-review choices stay in this browser and do not endorse a result.

24-month frequency comparison

Annual-only flag · window-sensitive review context. The two-year comparison does not qualify for the frequency ranking. The annual evidence is retained below, not erased.

October 2022–September 2024
992
October 2024–September 2026
926
Change in monthly mean
-2.75

The two windows each contain 24 complete covered months. The magnitude of the change is 1.07-fold. These are published license records, not a population-adjusted rate. Fixed windows do not establish a breakpoint, remove all seasonal effects or prove a renewal explanation.

12-month comparison · context, not the business ranking

October 2024–September 2025
593
October 2025–September 2026
333
Change in monthly mean
-21.67

This annual comparison crosses the original screening gates. Two-year renewal schedules can put a pulse in one annual window and not the other. Opposing directions or threshold sensitivity can have other explanations; an annual-only label is not proof of a renewal cycle.

Saved observations and fitted phases

Suggested 3-phase description — exploratory, not confirmed.

Fixed six-log-cycle frame · 120 calendar months · factors per six months. Raw zeros stay zero; confirmed zeros become one only for log-space fitting and diagnostics. Missing coverage remains unavailable.

Monthly business license records on a standard celeration chartCity of Chicago published records. Fixed six-decade count scale, 120 calendar months, celeration per 6 months. Zero markers are unconnected below the plot. Exact counts and coverage are available in the data table. Analyze: suggested. Suggested 3-phase description — exploratory, not confirmed. See the phase results table for dates, factors and uncertainty.1510501005001,0005,00010,00050,000100,000500,0001,000,000License records per monthsuggested phase 1: 2016-10–2020-09suggested phase 2: 2020-10–2022-09suggested phase 3: 2022-10–2026-09Oct 2016: 2Nov 2016: 5Dec 2016: 3Jan 2017: 5Feb 2017: 4Mar 2017: 8Apr 2017: 9May 2017: 8Jun 2017: 6Jul 2017: 7Aug 2017: 6Sep 2017: 4Oct 2017: 9Nov 2017: 3Dec 2017: 2Jan 2018: 100Feb 2018: 6Mar 2018: 14Apr 2018: 5May 2018: 6Jun 2018: 2Jul 2018: 3Aug 2018: 7Sep 2018: 2Oct 2018: 4Nov 2018: 4Dec 2018: 5Jan 2019: 5Feb 2019: 4Mar 2019: 7Apr 2019: 9May 2019: 6Jun 2019: 6Jul 2019: 3Aug 2019: 4Sep 2019: 3Oct 2019: 5Nov 2019: 3Dec 2019: 3Jan 2020: 89Feb 2020: 3Mar 2020: 11Apr 2020: 3May 2020: 5Jun 2020: 4Jul 2020: 4Aug 2020: 7Sep 2020: 12Oct 2020: 237Nov 2020: 151Dec 2020: 44Jan 2021: 34Feb 2021: 17Mar 2021: 45Apr 2021: 34May 2021: 17Jun 2021: 28Jul 2021: 25Aug 2021: 27Sep 2021: 19Oct 2021: 20Nov 2021: 20Dec 2021: 14Jan 2022: 112Feb 2022: 7Mar 2022: 29Apr 2022: 16May 2022: 22Jun 2022: 18Jul 2022: 16Aug 2022: 22Sep 2022: 17Oct 2022: 72Nov 2022: 216Dec 2022: 50Jan 2023: 38Feb 2023: 31Mar 2023: 55Apr 2023: 47May 2023: 35Jun 2023: 26Jul 2023: 24Aug 2023: 32Sep 2023: 21Oct 2023: 23Nov 2023: 13Dec 2023: 18Jan 2024: 95Feb 2024: 16Mar 2024: 32Apr 2024: 31May 2024: 30Jun 2024: 16Jul 2024: 18Aug 2024: 24Sep 2024: 29Oct 2024: 72Nov 2024: 189Dec 2024: 48Jan 2025: 30Feb 2025: 23Mar 2025: 37Apr 2025: 46May 2025: 38Jun 2025: 29Jul 2025: 35Aug 2025: 25Sep 2025: 21Oct 2025: 19Nov 2025: 15Dec 2025: 8Jan 2026: 82Feb 2026: 15Mar 2026: 22Apr 2026: 31May 2026: 33Jun 2026: 26Jul 2026: 22Aug 2026: 26Sep 2026: 34ZeroUnknownOct 2016Oct 2017Oct 2018Oct 2019Oct 2020Oct 2021Oct 2022Oct 2023Oct 2024Oct 2025Oct 2026Calendar months

Suggested phases · exploratory · per six months

  1. 1 · Oct 2016–Sep 2020×1.01Direction uncertain
  2. 2 · Oct 2020–Sep 2022÷1.46Fitted decrease
  3. 3 · Oct 2022–Sep 2026÷1.08Direction uncertain

Check the evidence

Interpretation and limitations (13)
  • Exploratory description, not a forecast, causal explanation or proof of a change.
  • Approximate 95% factor intervals assume independent, constant-variance log residuals and fixed boundaries. They do not account for boundary search, serial dependence or source revisions.
  • Confirmed zeros are treated as 1 only for fitting and its diagnostics. Raw counts stay zero; low-count results depend on this convention.
  • Independent phase lines may jump at boundaries. Every observation belongs to exactly one phase.
  • Reporting, classifications and seasonality can change. Counts are not population-adjusted; a level shift without a slope change is not the target of this search.
  • Uses dated last-good cached data, not newly verified source counts.
  • Boundary ranges show near-optimal models within 2 BIC units, not confidence intervals. They can be narrow even when the model is uncertain.
  • At least one factor interval includes 1; its direction is uncertain under this approximation.
  • License records include renewals and use license-term dates. Category/ward changes and administrative practice can affect counts; these are not business openings, closures or employment.
  • Business frequency screening compares adjacent 24-month windows, requiring 48 complete months. The 12-month comparison is context only. Fixed two-year windows reduce renewal-calendar mismatch; they are not seasonal adjustment, proof of a renewal mechanism, or a test of stability.
  • Window assessment: annual-only. Annual-only flags do not enter the frequency ranking. Opposite directions and short history must not be described as persistent changes.
  • Many dependent filter conditions were searched. No multiple-testing-adjusted significance or causal attribution is claimed.
  • Frequency compares fixed equal-length windows of raw counts, not population risk or a celeration-factor ratio. Reporting, classifications and exposure may have changed.
Phase diagnostics

Intervals assume fixed boundaries and independent log residuals. They are not adjusted for the phase or filter search. Near-optimal boundary ranges are not confidence intervals.

Saved phase results
PhaseStart–endMonthsFactor / six monthsConditional 95% intervalZeros fitted as 1Lag-one residual
1October 2016–September 202048×1.010.9172–1.1180-0.157
2October 2020–September 202224÷1.460.5372–0.87610-0.067
3October 2022–September 202648÷1.080.8574–1.00000.229

Near-optimal boundary range: October 2020–October 2020.

Near-optimal boundary range: August 2022–October 2022.

Exact monthly observations (120 slots)

Newest first. Unknown coverage is not a zero. These are the original saved observations, not fitted or rounded predictions.

Raw monthly license records
MonthRaw countCoverage
September 202634complete
August 202626complete
July 202622complete
June 202626complete
May 202633complete
April 202631complete
March 202622complete
February 202615complete
January 202682complete
December 20258complete
November 202515complete
October 202519complete
September 202521complete
August 202525complete
July 202535complete
June 202529complete
May 202538complete
April 202546complete
March 202537complete
February 202523complete
January 202530complete
December 202448complete
November 2024189complete
October 202472complete
September 202429complete
August 202424complete
July 202418complete
June 202416complete
May 202430complete
April 202431complete
March 202432complete
February 202416complete
January 202495complete
December 202318complete
November 202313complete
October 202323complete
September 202321complete
August 202332complete
July 202324complete
June 202326complete
May 202335complete
April 202347complete
March 202355complete
February 202331complete
January 202338complete
December 202250complete
November 2022216complete
October 202272complete
September 202217complete
August 202222complete
July 202216complete
June 202218complete
May 202222complete
April 202216complete
March 202229complete
February 20227complete
January 2022112complete
December 202114complete
November 202120complete
October 202120complete
September 202119complete
August 202127complete
July 202125complete
June 202128complete
May 202117complete
April 202134complete
March 202145complete
February 202117complete
January 202134complete
December 202044complete
November 2020151complete
October 2020237complete
September 202012complete
August 20207complete
July 20204complete
June 20204complete
May 20205complete
April 20203complete
March 202011complete
February 20203complete
January 202089complete
December 20193complete
November 20193complete
October 20195complete
September 20193complete
August 20194complete
July 20193complete
June 20196complete
May 20196complete
April 20199complete
March 20197complete
February 20194complete
January 20195complete
December 20185complete
November 20184complete
October 20184complete
September 20182complete
August 20187complete
July 20183complete
June 20182complete
May 20186complete
April 20185complete
March 201814complete
February 20186complete
January 2018100complete
December 20172complete
November 20173complete
October 20179complete
September 20174complete
August 20176complete
July 20177complete
June 20176complete
May 20178complete
April 20179complete
March 20178complete
February 20174complete
January 20175complete
December 20163complete
November 20165complete
October 20162complete
Source and reproducibility
Publisher dataset
Business Licenses · City of Chicago
Source retrieved
2026-11-05T21:09:58.696Z
Publisher update
2026-11-05T11:01:01.000Z
Covered months
October 2016–September 2026
Source note
Source xqx5-8hwx. Joint day/category/hour/applicable-flag/ward/status counts; no addresses, coordinates or incident identifiers. Each year's cells reconcile with an independent source total. Reads are not an atomic publisher snapshot. License records by term start, including renewals; not new businesses. Ward is as published, not reconstructed historical boundaries. Prepared daily community-area snapshot; scheduled rebuild at 06:00 America/Chicago. Full supported history is rechecked for corrections. Retrieval timestamps are preserved; this is not a real-time feed. Local indexed neighborhood snapshot. Totals are for the loaded area before other filters, not citywide totals. Citywide and unassigned-area views use a separate network-backed scope.
Snapshot
daily-v1:8a9771a7-dde2-4246-9cf6-d11519e895d6:neighborhood-v2:064fc304ae162bd27fe3d35f964f27b5
Discovery method
multi-feed-turn-and-frequency-renewal-v2
Analyze method
exploratory-segmented-log10-ols-zero-as-one-v3
Search plan
a3ffccedeb8d8ce18a30df3636839f775af1e5188e55a1f685695133135c6e35
Evidence run
1f6860e64f2daa9ddc1cb42ee7498461de7055ae62d58de73bba00881e5b78c3

Challenge the pattern

Check unfiltered totals, comparable communities, source revisions and administrative definitions before treating this candidate as evidence of a real-world explanation. Only explicitly documented follow-ups above have been performed; no others are implied by the ranking. Browse the other business licenses candidates or review the complete screening method.