Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Wisconsin’s labor market sets records,
and records, and records

Madison, Wis. Wisconsin’s labor market set a slew of all-time and other records last month in what proved to be a remarkable month of solid performance.

The preliminary seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 2.4 per cent for mid-April announced today by Governor Tommy Thompson was:

• the lowest for any month on record, and by a substantial margin.

  The previous low was 2.9 per cent for October 1966, January 1969 and February 1998. Such data has been developed and reported only since January 1960.

• well below the previous lowest rate for any April on record.

  The previous April low was 3.0 per cent recorded in 1966 (using a different method of estimation).

• the largest one-month drop since February 1988.

  The decline from March to April this year was seven-tenths of a percent, while the rate fell in 1988 from January’s 5.7 to February’s 4.8 per cent, or nine-tenths of one percent.

  It also was the second-largest drop of any state this year between March and April, nearly matching the eight-tenths of a percent drop in Massachusetts. That state has a higher unemployment rate than Wisconsin.

• the largest drop between Aprils in the state in 10 years.

  This year it was down 1.3 percentage points from the year-ago April rate of 3.7 per cent. That was the largest decline since 1988 when it went from 6.1 to 4.3 per cent between Aprils. It fell 1.2 percentage points between Aprils of 1994 and 1995.

• the first time the job count (nonfarm wage and salary employment) on a seasonally-adjusted basis surpassed the 2,700,000 mark, reaching 2,701,900 in April.

• a month when several industries set all-time seasonally-adjusted records for the number of jobs, as follows (ranked by size):

  Services and Miscellaneous, with 695,900 jobs.
  Government, with 392,500 jobs.
  Finance, Insurance and Real Estate, with 142,500 jobs.
  Wholesale trade, with 135,300 jobs.
  Construction, with 111,900 jobs.

• believed to be its lowest-ever recorded jobless rate for the Madison area. It declined to 1.1 per cent in April, down 0.4 percentage points over the month.

• The per cent of the state’s population age 16 and over in nonfarm wage and salary jobs rose to 68.7 per cent in April, compared to a U.S. rate of 60.9 per cent.

  The latest state rate was the highest for any month since at least January, 1985, and probably ever on record. Ten years ago, in April 1988, it was at 59.2 per cent. Over the year, it’s up 1.3 percentage points, from 67.4 per cent.

In addition:

• Wisconsin’s 2.4 per cent rate also was the third lowest in the nation last month, exceeded only by North Dakota’s 1.9 per cent and Nebraska’s 2.0 per cent, and tied with Iowa for third.

• All 11 of Wisconsin’s major urban areas saw significant declines in their jobless rates over the month.

  The declines ranged from a drop of 0.9 percentage points in Wausau to 0.4 percentage points in Appleton/Neenah/Oshkosh, Madison and Milwaukee. Rates ranged from Madison’s 1.1 per cent to 3.1 per cent in Racine. Racine was the only one of the 11 with a rate above 3.0 per cent.

• Milwaukee’s jobless rate declined to 2.6 per cent.

• Only seven counties recorded jobless rates 6.0 per cent or higher, an unusually low number for an April and a pattern normally not seen until July or August.

  The six were all in northern Wisconsin, in Bayfield, Sawyer, Ashland, Iron, Florence, Forest and Menominee counties.

• No county recorded a jobless rates at or above 10 per cent in April.

  The highest was Menominee County’s 9.3 per cent, but that was down from 9.9 per cent a month earlier. Last month, Iron and Rusk counties both recorded a jobless rate of 10.0 per cent.

• The state’s seasonally-adjusted rate of 2.4 per cent in April compares to the state’s highest-ever post-Depression rate of 12.5 per cent in December 1982. It also compares to a U.S. mid-April rate of 4.3 per cent, down from 4.7 per cent the previous month and 5.0 per cent a year earlier.

See also: Governor Announces All-Time Record Low Unemployment

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Employment and Labor Force
Household Survey

Unadjusted estimates	April 1998	previous month	Year ago
Total labor force	2,924,900	2,928,600	2,896,700
Employed	2,846,400	2,817,800	2,779,000
Unemployed	78,500	110,900	117,700
Wis. Unemployment	2.7%	3.8%	4.1%
U.S. Unemployment	4.1%	5.0%	4.8%

 

Seasonally adjusted	April 1998	previous month	Year ago
Total labor force	2,947,300	2,957,600	2,917,600
Employed	2,878,000	2,866,500	2,808,900
Unemployed	69,300	91,100	108,700
Wis. Unemployment	2.4%	3.1%	3.7%
U.S. Unemployment	4.3%	4.7%	5.0%

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March U.S. rank*	Unemployment % seasonally adjusted	April 1998	Last month	Year ago
	Wisconsin	2.4%	3.1%	3.7%
74th (tie)	Appleton-Oshkosh	2.2	2.6	3.1
155th (tie)	Eau Claire	2.4	3.2	3.9
74th (tie)	Green Bay	2.1	2.7	3.3
107th	Janesville-Beloit	2.9	3.6	4.2
63rd (tie)	Kenosha	2.5	3.0	3.6
90th	La Crosse	2.0	2.7	3.1
7th	Madison	1.1	1.5	1.7
63rd (tie)	Milwaukee-Waukesha	2.6	3.0	3.6
155th (tie)	Racine	3.1	3.6	4.2
27th	Sheboygan	1.7	2.4	2.7
198th	Wausau	2.6	3.5	3.8
* This is the latest available data for the U.S.’s 328 largest metro areas. Urban rankings are NOT seasonally adjusted. Lower is better. Ties are shown only if existing with other Wisconsin urban areas; ties with urban areas in other states are not shown, but are available upon request.

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Non-Farm Wage & Salary
Employer Survey

	April 1998	March 1998	Year Ago	+/- month	+/- year
NONFARM WAGE & SALARY	2,687,300	2,656,000	2,616,300	+31,300	+71,000
MANUFACTURING	615,600	613,500	599,000	+2,100	+17,500
DURABLE GOODS .	378,800	376,800	366,000	+2,000	+12,800
Lumber and Wood Products	31,000	30,400	29,800	+600	+1,200
Furniture and Fixtures	17,400	17,300	16,700	+100	+700
Stone, Clay & Glass Products	11,100	10,400	10,300	+700	+800
Primary Metal Industries	26,100	26,200	24,400	-100	+1,700
Fabricated Metal Products	66,600	66,400	64,300	+200	+2,300
Nonelectrical Machinery	116,100	115,700	113,700	+400	+2,400
Electrical Machinery	47,100	47,100	46,100	0	+1,000
Transportation Equipment .	33,500	33,600	32,000	-100	+1,500
Prof., Scient. & Control Instr	18,300	18,400	17,900	-100	+400
Miscellaneous Manufacturing	11,600	11,300	10,800	+300	+800
NONDURABLE GOODS	236,800	236,800	233,000	0	+3,800
Food and Kindred Products	62,700	62,500	62,900	+200	-200
Textile Mill Products	3,000	3,000	2,900	0	+100
Apparel & Other Finished Prods.	6,400	6,300	6,100	+100	+300
Paper and Allied Products .	53,300	53,400	52,600	-100	+700
Printing, Publishing & Allied . ..	55,100	55,000	52,900	+100	+2,200
Chemicals and Allied Products .	14,500	14,400	14,200	+100	+300
Rubber & Misc. Plastic Prods..	36,600	36,800	36,000	-200	+600
Leather & Leather Products	4,800	5,000	5,000	-200	-200
All Other Nondurable Goods ..	300	300	300	0	0
MINING	2,300	2,000	2,400	+300	-100
CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION	105,000	95,800	101,200	+9,200	+3,800
TRANS, COMM, ELEC, GAS	123,800	123,000	123,800	+800	0
TRADE	603,200	596,700	590,000	+6,500	+13,200
WHOLESALE TRADE	135,200	133,800	131,600	+1,400	+3,600
RETAIL TRADE	468,000	462,900	458,400	+5,100	+9,600
FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE	142,300	141,300	139,300	+1,00	+3,000
SERVICES AND MISCELLANEOUS	691,700	685,300	664,900	+6,400	+26,800
GOVERNMENT	403,500	398,200	395,700	+5,300	+7,800
FEDERAL	29,400	29,400	29,500	0	-100
STATE	101,300	99,700	99,100	+1,600	+2,200
LOCAL	272,800	269,200	267,100	+3,600	+5,700
PERSONS INVOLVED IN L-M DISPUTES	0	0	700	0	-700

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Maps of April 1998 Unemployment Rates by County

Unemployment by County
April 1998
not seasonally adjusted

RANK		COUNTY	RATE		LAST RATE		LAST RANK				RANK		COUNTY	RATE	LAST RATE		LAST RANK
27		ADAMS	3.5%		5.8%		32				47		MARATHON	2.8%	4.5%		47
4		ASHLAND	7.2%		8.2%		9				14		MARINETTE	5.1%	7.0%		18
31		BARRON	3.3%		5.8%		31				16		MARQUETTE	4.7%	8.1%		10
5		BAYFIELD	6.6%		7.9%		15				1		MENOMINEE	9.3%	9.9%		4
60		BROWN	2.3%		3.1%		64				36		MILWAUKEE	3.1%	3.4%		60
57		BUFFALO	2.4%		4.5%		46				40		MONROE	3.0%	4.9%		41
43		BURNETT	2.9%		5.6%		33				17		OCONTO	4.6%	6.8%		20
61		CALUMET	2.3%		3.1%		65				20		ONEIDA	4.3%	6.5%		22
38		CHIPPEWA	3.0%		5.4%		35				55		OUTAGAMIE	2.5%	3.4%		59
11		CLARK	5.3%		8.8%		5				71		OZAUKEE	1.5%	2.0%		71
25		COLUMBIA	3.7%		5.9%		30				34		PEPIN	3.2%	6.9%		19
32		CRAWFORD	3.3%		4.8%		42				67		PIERCE	2.0%	3.4%		56
72		DANE	1.2%		1.8%		72				30		POLK	3.5%	5.4%		37
58		DODGE	2.4%		3.4%		57				41		PORTAGE	3.0%	4.7%		44
15		DOOR	5.0%		8.1%		11				13		PRICE	5.1%	7.8%		16
24		DOUGLAS	3.8%		6.0%		26				33		RACINE	3.3%	4.1%		49
52		DUNN	2.5%		4.7%		43				45		RICHLAND	2.8%	5.9%		28
59		EAU CLAIRE	2.4%		3.4%		58				48		ROCK	2.7%	3.6%		54
6		FLORENCE	6.3%		8.7%		6				10		RUSK	5.4%	10.0%		1
51		FOND DU LAC	2.6%		3.6%		53				44		SAUK	2.9%	5.0%		40
3		FOREST	7.4%		9.9%		3				7		SAWYER	6.0%	8.6%		7
39		GRANT	3.0%		5.1%		39				29		SHAWANO	3.5%	5.4%		36
49		GREEN	2.7%		3.6%		55				70		SHEBOYGAN	1.7%	2.6%		69
21		GREEN LAKE	4.1%		6.0%		27				66		ST. CROIX	2.0%	3.6%		52
46		IOWA	2.8%		5.3%		38				9		TAYLOR	5.5%	8.1%		13
2		IRON	8.0%		10.0%		2				35		TREMPEALEAU	3.1%	6.1%		23
37		JACKSON	3.0%		5.9%		29				28		VERNON	3.5%	5.6%		34
63		JEFFERSON	2.2%		3.1%		63				12		VILAS	5.1%	8.1%		12
8		JUNEAU	5.6%		8.4%		8				65		WALWORTH	2.1%	3.0%		67
56		KENOSHA	2.5%		3.1%		66				18		WASHBURN	4.4%	7.9%		14
50		KEWAUNEE	2.6%		4.3%		48				62		WASHINGTON	2.2%	3.2%		62
68		LA CROSSE	2.0%		3.2%		61				69		WAUKESHA	1.9%	2.5%		70
42		LAFAYETTE	3.0%		4.6%		45				54		WAUPACA	2.5%	3.8%		51
19		LANGLADE	4.3%		7.0%		17				23		WAUSHARA	3.8%	6.0%		25
22		LINCOLN	3.8%		6.7%		21				64		WINNEBAGO	2.2%	2.8%		68
53		MANITOWOC	2.5%		3.9%		50				26		WOOD	3.6%	6.1%		24

*Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

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