Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

MADISON – Wisconsin’s preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose in January to 5.1 percent from December’s final rate of 4.9 percent according to figures released today by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The national unemployment rate was 5.6 percent in January, which was down from 5.8 in December.

"Even as more positive economic signs begin to appear on the horizon, labor markets often lag in recovery time, as evidenced by last month’s further erosion of Wisconsin’s labor market," DWD Secretary Reinert said. "Wisconsin’s extended unemployment benefits, which go into effect next month, will be a big help for struggling workers."

The manufacturing sector continued to record job losses, dropping to 567,700 jobs in January, down from a revised federal estimate of 601,100 for January of 2001. Over the last twelve months, the average loss in jobs in the manufacturing sector from the previous year’s estimate has been a fairly constant 31,000 jobs. Much of the loss in manufacturing has been concentrated in the durable goods manufacturing sector, which has been down about 23,500 jobs.

Finance, insurance and real estate employment, along with retail trade and services continued to show strength. Finance, insurance and real estate employment is up about 2,400 jobs from last year’s figure, service jobs are up 9,400 from one year ago when the services industry recorded its largest single year monthly average in history. Retail trade, although down about 700 jobs from last year’s January figure, is still quite strong. The year 2001, with an average monthly job figure of 502,925, was also the highest year on record.

Claims for unemployment insurance continue to run high, in spite of general improvement in the last few weeks. The first four weeks of 2002 saw an average 19,552 weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance, while the latest four weeks have seen an average figure of 15,773.

Governor McCallumn signed a bill last week providing an additional eight weeks of unemployment benefits for workers who exhaust their regular benefits between March 11, 2001 and December 31, 2002. Affected workers can begin receiving the extra benefits March 4, 2002.

County employment and unemployment figures for January should be available on February 27, 2002. This release is available on the department Internet site:
http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/lmi

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