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News Release: Wisconsin Unemployment Rate Hits All-Time Low: Jobless rate falls to 2.6 percent in September
We've got NEWS
Thursday, October 28, 1999
Governor
Tommy G. Thompson
Secretary
Linda Stewart
News Media Contact
Heidi Kafura
608/264-6811
e-mail: news@dwd.state.wi.us
fax: 608/266-1784

For more information contact:
August Cibarich, 608/266-0522

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS ALL-TIME LOW
Jobless rate falls to 2.6 percent in September

MADISON—The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) today announced that Wisconsin’s seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped to a historic low of 2.6 percent in September, giving the state the fifth lowest rate in the nation and breaking the previous record of 2.9 percent set last month.

DWD Secretary Linda Stewart said the record-low unemployment rate is benefiting families throughout the state.

"The state’s low unemployment rate is quite remarkable following the summer season," said Stewart.  "We are building the strongest economy on record in Wisconsin."

The September unemployment rate fell by three-tenths of a percentage point from 2.9 percent in August.  The 2.6 percent rate is an all-time low since seasonally-adjusted record keeping began in 1960.  According to unadjusted data, Wisconsin recorded the second lowest unemployment rate in the nation with a rate of 2.0 percent.

The 2.0 percent unemployment rate is the second lowest recorded rate for any month since 1956.  A 1.9 percent unemployment rate was recorded in August 1955 and October 1956.

Wisconsin is tied with South Dakota for the fifth lowest unemployment rate in the nation with a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 2.6 percent.  And, the state’s unadjusted 2.0 percent rate ties South Dakota for the second lowest rate in the nation.

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.2% in September.  Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has been below the national average every month since January 1988 or for 140 consecutive months.

All 11 of Wisconsin’s major urban areas experienced declines in their jobless rates in September.  This includes a record low rate of 1.1 percent in Madison.  The Madison area is likely to have the lowest rate in the nation again for the month of September, which would mark four consecutive months.

 Over the year unemployment rates declined in ten of the 11 Wisconsin metropolitan areas as only the LaCrosse area experienced an increase.

Twenty-eight of the 72 counties had September unemployment rates below two percent.  Sixty-three counties had rates below three percent and Menomonee County was the only county above four percent with a rate of 4.7 percent.

Even cities experienced low unemployment rates in September.   Unemployment rates are estimated for cities with a population of 25,000 or more people.  Twelve of the 28 cities had rates under two percent and 23 were at or below three percent.

Total employment increased by 14,400 over the year and the nonfarm wage and salary job total increased by 16,800 before seasonal adjustment. Over the month, the adjusted figures showed a decline of 2,000 in the total employment level and a decline of 4,300 in the nonfarm job total.

Trade, construction, mining, and the finance, insurance and real estate industries had strong seasonal changes, while manufacturing, service, government and transportation and public utilities had below average changes. Both durable and nondurable manufacturing contributed to the weak manufacturing change.  Retail trade contributed to most of the trade gain.

The rate for a 12th area, Duluth-Superior, declined over the month from 3.5 percent to 3.3 percent.  The year-ago September rate was also 3.8 percent.  Only unadjusted data is available for that area from the Minnesota Department of Economic Security and is not comparable to seasonally-adjusted rates in Wisconsin.

The complete text of the Department’s announcement and supporting data, as well as other labor market information, is available to the public on the agency’s Web site at http://www.dwd.state.wi.us.  Select "news releases."  Historical and other related labor market data is available by selecting "labor market information."

(end)

Employment and Labor Force
Household Survey

Unadjusted estimates

Sept. 1999

August 1999

Sept. 1998

Total labor force

2,943,500

2,993,200

2,957,900

Employed

2,884,200

2,915,000

2,869,800

Unemployed

59,200

78,200

88,000

Wis. Unemployment Rate

2.0%

2.6%

3.0%

U.S. Unemployment Rate

4.1%

4.2%

4.4%

 

Seasonally adjusted

Sept. 1999

August 1999

Sept. 1998

Total labor force

2,948,400

2,962,200

2,957,900

Employed

2,872,800

2,874,800

2,856,000

Unemployed

75,600

87,400

104,100

Wis. Unemployment

2.6%

3.0%

3.5%

U.S. Unemployment

4.2%

4.2%

4.5%

 

 

*Metro National rank
Aug. 1999

  
Unemployment
% seasonally adjusted

 
September
1999

 
August
1999

 
September
1998

**5th

Wisconsin

2.6

3.0

3.5

24th

Appleton-Oshkosh

1.9

2.2

2.8

43rd

Eau Claire

2.2

2.9

3.4

29th

Green Bay

1.9

2.3

2.8

125th

Janesville-Beloit

3.0

3.4

4.0

90th

Kenosha

2.7

2.9

3.4

98th

La Crosse

3.0

3.3

3.0

1st

Madison

1.1

1.3

1.6

112th

Milwaukee-Waukesha

2.5

2.9

3.5

225th

Racine

3.9

4.4

4.3

16th

Sheboygan

1.6

2.1

2.5

53rd

Wausau

2.4

2.8

3.7
  • This is the latest available data for the U.S.’s 329 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. Rankings are by the U.S. Labor Department and are based on unadjusted data for the previous month, while the rates shown above for Wisconsin cities are seasonally-adjusted and for the current month.
  • **State ranking is seasonally adjusted for the current month
  • *Metropolitan ranking is not seasonally adjusted and is for the prior month

Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Non-Farm Wage & Salary
Employer Survey
In Thousands

 

September
1999

August
1999

Year Ago

+/-
month

+/–
year
NONFARM WAGE & SALARY

2764.3

2758.1

2741.7

6.2

22.6

           
MANUFACTURING

613.2

620.6

620.8

-7.4

-7.6

DURABLE GOODS .

374.2

377.2

378.1

-3.0

-3.9

Lumber and Wood Products

32.3

33.0

31.6

-0.7

0.7

Furniture and Fixtures

17.5

17.7

17.9

-0.2

-0.4

Stone, Clay & Glass Products

11.4

11.5

11.2

-0.1

0.2

Primary Metal Industries

25.1

25.2

25.4

-0.1

-0.3

Fabricated Metal Products

67.7

68.3

69.1

-0.6

-1.4

Nonelectrical Machinery

111.8

112.5

114.7

-0.7

-2.9

Electrical Machinery

44.8

45.1

46.1

-0.3

-1.3

Transportation Equipment .

34.8

34.8

33.0

0.0

1.8

Prof., Scient. & Control Instr

18.4

18.5

18.1

-0.1

0.3

Miscellaneous Manufacturing

10.3

10.5

11.1

-0.2

-0.8

           
NONDURABLE GOODS

239.0

243.4

242.7

-4.4

-3.7

Food and Kindred Products

68.1

69.6

68.8

-1.5

-0.7

Textile Mill Products

2.6

2.6

2.8

0.0

-0.2

Apparel & Other Finished Products

6.1

6.3

6.3

-0.2

-0.2

Paper and Allied Products.

51.9

52.8

53.1

-0.9

-1.2

Printing, Publishing & Allied

54.5

55.3

55.2

-0.8

-0.7

Chemicals and Allied Products

15.1

15.1

14.8

0.0

0.3

Rubber & Misc. Plastic Products

36.6

37.4

36.9

-0.8

-0.3

Leather & Leather Products

3.7

3.8

4.2

-0.1

-0.5

All Other Nondurable Goods

0.5

0.5

0.4

0.0

0.1

           
MINING

2.9

2.9

3.0

0.0

-0.1

CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION

126.2

128.7

121.9

-2.5

4.3

TRANS, COMM, ELEC, GAS

129.3

125.5

129.8

3.8

-0.5

TRADE

617.5

624.0

612.4

-6.5

5.1

WHOLESALE TRADE

139.5

141.0

137.1

-1.5

2.4

RETAIL TRADE

477.9

483.1

475.3

-5.2

2.6

FINANCE, INSURANCE & REAL ESTATE

149.5

150.1

144.7

-0.6

4.8

SERVICES AND MISCELLANEOUS

733.0

737.2

718.7

-4.2

14.3

           
GOVERNMENT

392.8

369.1

390.3

23.7

2.5

FEDERAL

29.6

29.7

29.7

-0.1

-0.1

STATE

99.3

95.0

97.5

4.3

1.8

LOCAL

263.9

244.4

263.1

19.5

0.8

           
PERSONS INVOLVED IN L-M DISPUTES

0.0

0.0

0.2

0.0

-0.2

Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

 

Maps of September 1999 Unemployment Rates by County

Unemployment by County
September 1999
Not seasonally adjusted

RANK  

COUNTY

 RATE LAST
RATE		 LAST
RANK		 YR
AGO
RATE		 RANK COUNTY RATE LAST
RATE		 LAST
RANK		 YR
AGO
RATE

 

                     

38

 ADAMS

2.0%

2.5%

42

2.9%

45

 MARATHON

1.8%

2.4%

46

2.8%

3

 ASHLAND

3.7%

5.6%

2

7.3%

10

 MARINETTE

2.9%

3.7%

12

4.9%

37

 BARRON

2.0%

2.6%

34

3.2%

16

 MARQUETTE

2.6%

2.8%

29

3.5%

22

 BAYFIELD

2.3%

3.2%

18

4.2%

1

 MENOMINEE

4.7%

7.1%

1

9.4%

51

 BROWN

1.7%

2.1%

53

2.5%

8

 MILWAUKEE

3.0%

3.9%

8

4.2%

50

 BUFFALO

1.7%

2.1%

52

2.3%

11

 MONROE

2.7%

4.7%

4

6.6%

27

 BURNETT

2.1%

2.8%

28

3.0%

12

 OCONTO

2.7%

3.4%

15

4.0%

58

 CALUMET

1.6%

2.0%

59

2.3%

29

 ONEIDA

2.1%

2.6%

36

3.4%

55

 CHIPPEWA

1.6%

2.3%

48

2.6%

47

 OUTAGAMIE

1.8%

2.1%

55

2.3%

21

 CLARK

2.3%

3.3%

17

3.8%

71

 OZAUKEE

1.3%

1.8%

68

2.5%

28

 COLUMBIA

2.1%

2.6%

35

3.2%

42

 PEPIN

1.8%

2.6%

32

2.7%

25

 CRAWFORD

2.3%

2.7%

31

3.1%

69

 PIERCE

1.4%

1.8%

69

3.0%

72

 DANE

1.0%

1.2%

72

1.4%

39

 POLK

2.0%

2.4%

47

3.2%

63

 DODGE

1.5%

2.0%

58

2.3%

41

 PORTAGE

1.8%

2.7%

30

2.9%

57

 DOOR

1.6%

2.2%

51

3.1%

9

 PRICE

3.0%

3.8%

11

7.5%

33

 DOUGLAS

2.0%

3.1%

21

3.7%

5

 RACINE

3.4%

4.4%

6

3.8%

66

 DUNN

1.4%

2.0%

56

2.4%

44

 RICHLAND

1.8%

2.4%

45

3.9%

54

 EAU CLAIRE

1.6%

2.4%

43

2.5%

13

 ROCK

2.7%

3.2%

20

3.6%

6

 FLORENCE

3.1%

4.4%

5

5.6%

18

 RUSK

2.5%

3.0%

24

4.2%

56

 FOND DU LAC

1.6%

2.3%

49

2.5%

65

 SAUK

1.5%

1.8%

70

2.3%

15

 FOREST

2.6%

3.8%

10

5.2%

23

 SAWYER

2.3%

3.2%

19

4.2%

26

 GRANT

2.2%

2.6%

40

3.1%

30

 SHAWANO

2.1%

2.6%

37

3.1%

43

 GREEN

1.8%

2.4%

44

2.5%

68

 SHEBOYGAN

1.4%

1.9%

64

2.3%

49

 GREEN LAKE

1.8%

1.9%

67

3.1%

70

 ST. CROIX

1.4%

1.7%

71

3.1%

52

 IOWA

1.7%

2.0%

61

2.4%

46

 TAYLOR

1.8%

2.1%

54

2.8%

14

 IRON

2.6%

4.3%

7

6.1%

40

 TREMPEALEAU

1.9%

2.6%

33

3.0%

53

 JACKSON

1.6%

2.5%

41

3.2%

17

 VERNON

2.5%

3.6%

13

3.7%

64

 JEFFERSON

1.5%

1.9%

65

2.4%

48

 VILAS

1.8%

2.0%

62

2.8%

4

 JUNEAU

3.7%

5.3%

3

5.7%

60

 WALWORTH

1.6%

1.9%

66

2.1%

20

 KENOSHA

2.4%

2.9%

26

3.0%

7

 WASHBURN

3.1%

3.4%

16

4.6%

61

 KEWAUNEE

1.5%

2.2%

50

2.7%

62

 WASHINGTON

1.5%

2.0%

57

2.5%

24

 LA CROSSE

2.3%

3.0%

23

2.4%

59

 WAUKESHA

1.6%

2.0%

60

2.3%

36

 LAFAYETTE

2.0%

2.8%

27

2.4%

31

 WAUPACA

2.1%

2.6%

38

2.8%

2

 LANGLADE

3.8%

3.9%

9

4.4%

34

 WAUSHARA

2.0%

3.0%

22

3.6%

19

 LINCOLN

2.4%

3.4%

14

3.7%

67

 WINNEBAGO

1.4%

1.9%

63

2.6%

32

 MANITOWOC

2.1%

2.6%

39

2.5%

35

 WOOD

2.0%

2.9%

25

3.3%

Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
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