Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Wednesday, February 27, 2002 Governor Scott McCallum Secretary Jennifer Reinert

News Media Contact Christopher Marschman 608/261-6705 e-mail: news@dwd.state.wi.us fax: 608/266-1784

MADISON – Dane County, with an estimated 2.8 percent unemployment rate, was lowest in the state followed by Ozaukee County at 4.0 percent and Waukesha County at 4.3 percent according to figures released today by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD).

"Seventy-one of Wisconsin’s seventy-two counties experienced increases in unemployment rates between December and January, which falls in line with the reported statewide increase in unemployment reported last month," said DWD Secretary Jennifer Reinert. "Although the struggling economy has forced up unemployment levels for much of the past year, the level of increase in last month’s rate is near normal for this time of year," she said.

In the period from 1992 through 2001, the state’s unadjusted unemployment rate change between December and the following January has averaged a 1.2 percentage point increase, representing a 34.8 percent increase. This year’s 1.4 percentage point increase represents a 31.8 percent increase from December’s 4.4 percent rate.

Juneau County at 12.5 percent had the highest county unemployment rate in the State, followed closely by Ashland County at 11.2 percent and Menominee County at 11.0 percent. The lowest rate in the state was reported for Dane County, at 2.8 percent. Ozaukee County at 4.0 percent and Waukesha County at 4.3 percent were next in line. Among the cities for whom unemployment rates are estimated, Racine had the highest rate at 11.4 percent, and Madison had the lowest rate at 2.8 percent.

The largest increase in the state was in Ashland County, which saw its rate go from 7.4 percent in December to 11.2 percent in January. Juneau County went from 8.9 percent in December to 12.5 percent in January.

The number of jobs in Wisconsin fell from 2,836,000 in December to 2,759,200 in January, a seasonal drop of 76,800 jobs, which is very close to the norm. Over the past eight years, the average drop has been just over 80,000. In fact, in basically all industrial sectors, the drop in jobs between December and January could be best described as seasonal. The finance, insurance and real estate industries, and the service industries experienced lower than normal seasonal loss.

The state begins 2002 with an estimated 2,759,500 jobs, approximately 13,000 fewer than we began 2001. Last year in January there were an estimated 2,772,700 jobs.

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 Employment and Labor Force
Household Survey

Unadjusted estimates	Jan. 2002	Dec. 2001	Jan. 2001
Total labor force	3,031,900	2,981,100	2,935,600
Employed	2,855,200	2,849,100	2,795,100
Unemployed	176,600	132,100	140,600
Wis. Unemployment Rate	5.8%	4.4%	4.8%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	6.3%	5.4%	4.7%

 

Seasonably adjusted	Jan. 2002	Dec. 2001	Jan. 2001
Total labor force	3,071,100	3,001,100	2,973,900
Employed	2,913,500	2,853,900	2,852,500
Unemployed	157,600	147,200	121,500
Wis. Unemployment	5.1%	4.9%	4.1%
U.S. Unemployment	5.6%	5.8%	4.2%

 

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January State Rank *December Area Rank	Unemployment % seasonally adjusted	Jan. 2002	Dec. 2001	Jan. 2001
21st	Wisconsin	5.1	4.9	4.1
71st	Appleton-Oshkosh	4.6	4.3	3.0
177th	Eau Claire	4.9	5.1	4.4
80th	Green Bay	4.5	4.6	3.1
208th	Janesville-Beloit	6.2	7.4	4.8
149th	Kenosha	4.9	5.6	5.3
53rd	La Crosse	3.7	3.8	3.7
4th	Madison	2.4	2.4	1.9
138th	Milwaukee-Waukesha	5.5	5.4	4.3
266th	Racine	6.6	7.5	5.4
71st	Sheboygan	4.7	4.7	3.0
71st	Wausau	4.3	4.2	3.8
This is the latest available data for the U.S.’s 331 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 metropolitan areas are seasonally-adjusted and for the current month. **State ranking is seasonally adjusted *Metropolitan ranking is not seasonally adjusted and is for the prior month

Source *Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

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Maps of January 2002 Unemployment Rates by County

WISCONSIN COUNTIES Unemployment Rates January 2002 Not Seasonally Adjusted)     RANK COUNTY RATE LAST RATE LAST RANK YR    AGO  RATE RANK COUNTY RATE LAST RATE LAST RANK YR    AGO  RATE    41 ADAMS 6.9% 4.9% 41 6.2% 60 MARATHON 5.5% 3.7% 64 4.9% 2 ASHLAND 11.2% 7.4% 6 9.7% 17 MARINETTE 8.3% 6.8% 10 7.4% 29 BARRON 7.4% 5.5% 32 7.6% 4 MARQUETTE 10.2% 7.2% 7 10.1% 10 BAYFIELD 9.2% 7.5% 4 9.5% 3 MENOMINEE 11.0% 11.2% 1 8.2% 66 BROWN 5.0% 3.9% 59 3.5% 47 MILWAUKEE 6.3% 5.2% 37 5.1% 53 BUFFALO 5.8% 4.2% 48 5.6% 46 MONROE 6.4% 4.8% 43 6.2%    15 BURNETT 8.5% 6.4% 14 7.1% 5 OCONTO 9.7% 7.9% 3 6.7% 52 CALUMET 5.9% 4.0% 58 3.4% 28 ONEIDA 7.4% 5.7% 27 7.4% 13 CHIPPEWA 8.6% 6.4% 15 7.8% 61 OUTAGAMIE 5.3% 3.9% 60 3.7% 8 CLARK 9.4% 6.8% 11 10.1% 71 OZAUKEE 4.0% 3.0% 71 2.5% 32 COLUMBIA 7.3% 5.4% 34 6.2% 12 PEPIN 9.1% 6.3% 20 8.4% 48 CRAWFORD 6.2% 4.4% 47 6.0% 56 PIERCE 5.6% 3.9% 61 4.6%    72 DANE 2.8% 2.1% 72 2.2% 20 POLK 8.2% 5.8% 26 6.5% 44 DODGE 6.6% 5.2% 38 4.6% 50 PORTAGE 6.1% 3.7% 65 5.5% 19 DOOR 8.2% 6.5% 13 8.6% 40 PRICE 6.9% 5.1% 40 7.9% 36 DOUGLAS 7.2% 5.2% 39 6.3% 26 RACINE 7.6% 6.3% 18 6.2% 54 DUNN 5.8% 4.1% 51 5.3% 49 RICHLAND 6.1% 4.6% 45 6.4% 64 EAU CLAIRE 5.0% 4.0% 54 4.3% 35 ROCK 7.2% 5.5% 31 5.6%    11 FLORENCE 9.2% 5.9% 23 10.2% 7 RUSK 9.4% 7.0% 8 11.3% 55 FOND DU LAC 5.7% 4.0% 57 5.3% 59 SAUK 5.5% 4.0% 56 5.1% 25 FOREST 7.6% 6.3% 17 8.0% 23 SAWYER 7.9% 6.2% 21 8.4% 43 GRANT 6.7% 4.2% 50 6.1% 38 SHAWANO 7.0% 5.6% 30 5.8% 45 GREEN 6.6% 4.1% 52 5.2% 65 SHEBOYGAN 5.0% 4.0% 55 3.2% 18 GREEN LAKE 8.3% 6.3% 19 7.2% 39 ST. CROIX 7.0% 4.9% 42 3.9%    57 IOWA 5.6% 3.1% 70 5.0% 14 TAYLOR 8.6% 6.4% 16 7.9% 16 IRON 8.4% 6.7% 12 7.8% 22 TREMPEALEAU 8.0% 5.8% 25 8.6% 31 JACKSON 7.3% 5.8% 24 7.4% 33 VERNON 7.3% 5.3% 36 6.5% 67 JEFFERSON 5.0% 3.5% 68 4.2% 21 VILAS 8.0% 5.9% 22 8.1% 1 JUNEAU 12.5% 8.9% 2 10.3% 62 WALWORTH 5.2% 3.8% 63 4.2% 58 KENOSHA 5.5% 4.6% 44 5.9% 6 WASHBURN 9.7% 6.9% 9 9.2%    51 KEWAUNEE 6.0% 4.2% 49 4.3% 63 WASHINGTON 5.1% 3.8% 62 3.7% 69 LA CROSSE 4.6% 3.5% 66 4.4% 70 WAUKESHA 4.3% 3.2% 69 3.0% 34 LAFAYETTE 7.3% 4.5% 46 6.2% 42 WAUPACA 6.7% 5.4% 33 5.2% 9 LANGLADE 9.3% 7.5% 5 8.8% 30 WAUSHARA 7.4% 5.4% 35 6.7% 24 LINCOLN 7.8% 5.7% 29 6.9% 68 WINNEBAGO 4.9% 3.5% 67 3.3% 27 MANITOWOC 7.6% 5.7% 28 5.3% 37 WOOD 7.1% 4.1% 53 6.8%

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Labor Market Information and Customer Service

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WISCONSIN CITIES Unemployment Rates January 2002 (Not Seasonally Adjusted) RANK CITY RATE LAST RATE LAST RANK YR  AGO RATE             12 APPLETON CITY 6.6% 4.8% 12 4.1% 2 BELOIT CITY 9.5% 8.0% 2 8.0% 27 BROOKFIELD CITY 3.2% 2.6% 27 2.2% 17 EAU CLAIRE CITY 5.7% 4.6% 16 4.9% 7 FOND DU LAC CITY 7.3% 5.1% 10 6.6% 22 FRANKLIN CITY 4.7% 3.9% 22 3.3%    6 GREEN BAY CITY 7.7% 6.1% 5 5.4% 26 GREENFIELD CITY 3.5% 2.8% 25 2.6% 10 JANESVILLE CITY 6.7% 5.0% 11 5.4% 11 KENOSHA CITY 6.6% 5.8% 6 7.3% 18 LA CROSSE CITY 5.5% 4.2% 19 5.3% 28 MADISON CITY 2.8% 2.2% 28 2.2%    3 MANITOWOC CITY 9.2% 7.0% 4 6.0% 24 MENOMONEE FALLS CITY 4.0% 3.0% 24 2.4% 4 MILWAUKEE CITY 8.6% 7.3% 3 7.2% 9 NEENAH CITY 7.0% 5.1% 9 4.3% 25 NEW BERLIN CITY 3.7% 2.8% 26 2.5% 21 OAK CREEK CITY 5.3% 4.1% 20 4.0%    19 OSHKOSH CITY 5.5% 4.0% 21 3.8% 1 RACINE CITY 11.4% 9.8% 1 9.6% 14 SHEBOYGAN CITY 6.3% 5.1% 8 3.9% 5 STEVENS POINT CITY 7.9% 4.8% 14 7.1% 13 SUPERIOR CITY 6.6% 4.8% 13 5.8% 16 WAUKESHA CITY 6.0% 4.4% 17 4.1% 15 WAUSAU CITY 6.3% 4.7% 15 5.4% 23 WAUWATOSA CITY 4.1% 3.4% 23 3.1% 20 WEST ALLIS CITY 5.4% 4.2% 18 3.9% 8 WEST BEND CITY 7.2% 5.3% 7 5.6%

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Labor Market Information and Customer Service

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WISCONSIN LABOR FORCE SUMMARY IN THOUSANDS         Net Change From ITEM Prelim. Jan. 2002 Final  Dec.   2001 Year Ago Jan. 2001 Month Ago  Year Ago              PLACE OF RESIDENCE DATA               CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE 3031.9 2981.1 2935.6 50.8 96.3   UNEMPLOYMENT 176.6 132.1 140.6 44.5 36.0   UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 5.8 4.4 4.8 1.4 1.0   EMPLOYMENT (1) 2855.2 2849.1 2795.1 6.1 60.1             PLACE OF WORK DATA           NONFARM WAGE & SALARY 2759.2 2836 2772.6 -76.8 -13.4   MANUFACTURING 567.7 574.9 601.1 -7.2 -33.4   DURABLE GOODS 338 343.2 366.4 -5.2 -28.4      Lumber and Wood Products 31.1 32.2 31.5 -1.1 -0.4      Furniture and Fixtures 18.7 19.2 18.9 -0.5 -0.2      Stone, Clay & Glass Products 11 11.3 10.5 -0.3 0.5      Primary Metal Industries 22.4 22.6 25 -0.2 -2.6      Fabricated Metal Products 61.5 62 66.2 -0.5 -4.7      Nonelectrical Machinery 96.9 98.1 107.6 -1.2 -10.7      Electrical Machinery 38.8 39.3 45.7 -0.5 -6.9      Transportation Equipment 29.2 29.2 32.7 0.0 -3.5      Prof., Scient. & Control      Instruments 17.6 17.7 17.5 -0.1 0.1      Miscellaneous Manufacturing 10.7 11.6 10.9 -0.9 -0.2               NONDURABLE GOODS 229.7 231.7 234.8 -2.0 -5.1      Food and Kindred Products 65.9 66.7 64.7 1.2      Textile Mill Products 2.2 2.3 2.2 -0.1 0.0      Apparel & Other Finished      Products 5.7 5.7 5.7 0.0 0.0      Paper and Allied Products 50.3 50.8 51.5 -0.