Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Friday, December 27, 2002 Governor Scott McCallum Secretary Jennifer Alexander

News Media Contact Teresa Weidemann-Smith 608/266-3999 e-mail: news@dwd.state.wi.us fax: 608/266-1784

NOVEMBER LOCAL EMPLOYMENT FIGURES RELEASED

MADISON – Wisconsin’s unadjusted unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in November and the state was nearly evenly distributed with 39 counties above 4.5 percent or above, and 33 counties at or below 4.5 percent. Eighteen counties had rates under 4.0 percent, and two of those, Iowa and Dane counties, were 3.0 percent or lower. Dane County had the State’s lowest rate at 2.3 percent. The State’s highest rate was recorded in Menominee County at 11.3 percent. Florence County had the State’s second highest unemployment rate at 8.7 percent followed by Iron County at 8.6 percent and Juneau County at 8.0 percent.

Thirty-one of the 72 counties had lower rates in November than they had one year ago. Many of the lowest rates were recorded in the western part of the state, where Buffalo, Crawford, Dunn, Eau Claire, Iowa, Jackson, La Crosse, Pierce, and Sauk counties were all below 4.0 percent. In addition, two of the State’s eleven Metropolitan Statistical Areas had seasonally adjusted unemployment rates under 4.0 percent for November - La Crosse and Madison.

Counties with heavy concentrations of durable goods industry, particularly machinery equipment had fairly high unemployment rates, as the durable goods industry for the State continues to be very hard hit, showing very little sign of recovery. Manitowoc County, Milwaukee County, and Racine County, three counties with high concentrations of machinery manufacturing all had unemployment rates 5.7 percent or higher. Those three counties, with just over 20.5 percent of the state’s labor force, recorded just under 30.0 percent of the State’s unemployment.

Wisconsin’s dependence on durable goods manufacturing, while an obvious positive during good economic times continues to be negative for the State in economically slow periods, such as the past two years. Although many national economists are pointing to a slow steady recovery being underway, economic recovery is very hard to discern at a state level.

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 Employment and Labor Force
Household Survey

Unadjusted estimates	Nov. 2002	Oct. 2002	Nov. 2001
Total labor force	3,053,900	3,053,700	2,994,300
Employed	2,915,100	2,927,400	2,861,100
Unemployed	138,800	126,200	133,100
Wis. Unemployment Rate	4.5%	4.1%	4.4%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	5.7%	5.3%	5.3%

 

Seasonably adjusted	Nov. 2002	Oct. 2002	Nov. 2001
Total labor force	3,067,600	3,068,500	3,001,500
Employed	2,912,200	2,918,700	2,855,400
Unemployed	155,400	149,800	146,000
Wis. Unemployment	5.1%	4.9%	4.9%
U.S. Unemployment	6.0%	5.7%	5.6%

 

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Nov. State Rank *Oct. Area Rank	Unemployment % seasonally adjusted	Nov. 2002	Oct. 2002	Nov. 2001
21st	Wisconsin	5.1	4.9	4.9
85th	Appleton-Oshkosh	4.6	4.5	4.4
62nd	Eau Claire	4.7	4.5	4.9
95th	Green Bay	5.0	4.6	4.5
184th	Janesville-Beloit	5.9	5.4	7.9
137th	Kenosha	5.6	5.2	5.0
31st	La Crosse	3.9	3.8	3.7
5th	Madison	2.6	2.5	2.3
176th	Milwaukee-Waukesha	5.6	5.2	5.3
265th	Racine	7.5	6.9	7.3
85th	Sheboygan	4.8	4.2	4.6
38th	Wausau	4.4	4.3	4.6
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 November 2002 Unemployment Rates by County

WISCONSIN COUNTIES Unemployment Rates November 2002 Not Seasonally Adjusted)       COUNTY         RATE  LAST  RATE  LAST  RANK  YR    AGO  RATE       RANK   COUNTY RATE  LAST  RATE  LAST  RANK  YR     AGO  RATE     33 ADAMS 4.8% 3.7% 48 4.3% 67 MARATHON 3.6% 3.2% 59 3.8% 7 ASHLAND 6.9% 5.5% 10 6.9% 13 MARINETTE 5.8% 5.0% 16 6.5% 32 BARRON 4.8% 4.0% 38 4.3% 6 MARQUETTE 7.5% 5.8% 8 6.9% 8 BAYFIELD 6.8% 3.7% 49 6.3% 1 MENOMINEE 11.3% 11.5% 1 11.5% 43 BROWN 4.4% 4.0% 36 4.0% 11 MILWAUKEE 6.1% 5.9% 7 5.7% 65 BUFFALO 3.7% 2.6% 71 3.7% 41 MONROE 4.4% 4.1% 30 4.8% 42 BURNETT 4.4% 4.0% 35 5.4% 9 OCONTO 6.6% 6.0% 4 7.4% 53 CALUMET 4.1% 3.5% 52 4.3% 15 ONEIDA 5.7% 4.7% 18 4.4% 35 CHIPPEWA 4.7% 4.2% 25 5.1% 48 OUTAGAMIE 4.2% 4.0% 34 4.0% 21 CLARK 5.4% 4.2% 28 5.7% 69 OZAUKEE 3.4% 3.2% 58 3.3% 29 COLUMBIA 5.0% 4.3% 23 5.1% 39 PEPIN 4.6% 3.4% 55 5.2% 63 CRAWFORD 3.7% 3.2% 60 4.3% 55 PIERCE 3.9% 3.7% 43 3.4% 72 DANE 2.3% 2.1% 72 2.0% 27 POLK 5.1% 4.2% 26 4.9% 37 DODGE 4.6% 4.1% 31 5.5% 64 PORTAGE 3.7% 3.0% 65 3.5% 20 DOOR 5.5% 2.7% 69 5.4% 49 PRICE 4.2% 3.8% 41 4.1% 50 DOUGLAS 4.2% 3.6% 51 4.7% 10 RACINE 6.6% 6.0% 5 6.5% 70 DUNN 3.3% 2.8% 67 3.6% 52 RICHLAND 4.1% 3.9% 39 3.9% 60 EAU CLAIRE 3.8% 3.2% 61 3.9% 26 ROCK 5.2% 5.0% 14 6.9% 2 FLORENCE 8.7% 8.3% 2 5.8% 16 RUSK 5.6% 4.4% 21 5.0% 56 FOND DU LAC 3.9% 3.7% 44 4.0% 61 SAUK 3.8% 3.1% 64 3.5% 18 FOREST 5.5% 5.0% 15 5.5% 28 SAWYER 5.1% 3.4% 56 5.0% 51 GRANT 4.2% 3.5% 53 4.2% 34 SHAWANO 4.7% 4.3% 22 5.5% 58 GREEN 3.8% 3.7% 42 4.6% 45 SHEBOYGAN 4.3% 3.9% 40 4.2% 22 GREEN LAKE 5.4% 4.1% 32 5.8% 19 ST. CROIX 5.5% 4.9% 17 4.4% 71 IOWA 3.0% 2.6% 70 2.8% 54 TAYLOR 4.1% 3.0% 66 4.8% 3 IRON 8.6% 5.2% 11 7.8% 36 TREMPEALEAU 4.7% 3.7% 47 4.7% 57 JACKSON 3.9% 3.2% 62 4.6% 40 VERNON 4.5% 3.7% 46 4.2% 62 JEFFERSON 3.7% 3.3% 57 4.1% 30 VILAS 5.0% 2.8% 68 5.2% 4 JUNEAU 8.0% 7.0% 3 8.6% 59 WALWORTH 3.8% 3.6% 50 3.9% 31 KENOSHA 4.8% 4.6% 19 4.4% 17 WASHBURN 5.6% 4.2% 29 5.3% 23 KEWAUNEE 5.3% 5.1% 12 4.1% 44 WASHINGTON 4.3% 4.2% 24 4.2% 68 LA CROSSE 3.5% 3.1% 63 3.3% 66 WAUKESHA 3.6% 3.4% 54 3.5% 12 LAFAYETTE 5.9% 5.6% 9 4.5% 38 WAUPACA 4.6% 4.0% 37 5.2% 5 LANGLADE 7.6% 6.0% 6 7.5% 25 WAUSHARA 5.3% 4.2% 27 5.4% 24 LINCOLN 5.3% 4.5% 20 5.1% 47 WINNEBAGO 4.2% 4.0% 33 3.8% 14 MANITOWOC 5.7% 5.1% 13 5.3% 46 WOOD 4.3% 3.7% 45 3.9%

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

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WISCONSIN CITIES Unemployment Rates November 2002 (Not Seasonally Adjusted) RANK CITY RATE LAST RATE LAST RANK YR  AGO RATE             9 APPLETON CITY 5.8% 5.5% 9 5.2% 3 BELOIT CITY 8.2% 8.2% 2 9.0% 26 BROOKFIELD CITY 3.2% 3.2% 25 3.0% 21 EAU CLAIRE CITY 4.2% 3.7% 22 4.5% 14 FOND DU LAC CITY 5.0% 4.9% 12 5.1% 20 FRANKLIN CITY 4.5% 4.0% 20 4.1% 5 GREEN BAY CITY 7.0% 6.5% 4 6.4% 24 GREENFIELD CITY 3.6% 3.4% 24 3.1% 11 JANESVILLE CITY 5.4% 4.9% 14 7.3% 7 KENOSHA CITY 6.0% 5.6% 7 5.5% 18 LA CROSSE CITY 4.6% 4.3% 17 4.2% 28 MADISON CITY 2.4% 2.4% 28 2.2% 4 MANITOWOC CITY 7.2% 6.2% 5 6.3% 25 MENOMONEE FALLS CITY 3.5% 3.1% 27 3.1% 2 MILWAUKEE CITY 8.5% 8.2% 3 8.0% 8 NEENAH CITY 5.8% 5.8% 6 5.4% 27 NEW BERLIN CITY