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Madison - Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced that 71 of Wisconsin's 72 counties had lower unemployment rates in May than they experienced in April, while 23 of the state's 28 largest cities experienced decreases over the month.
"Wisconsin's labor market experienced dramatic improvement in May with decreases in unemployment across most of the state and many areas seeing significant decreases in the number of unemployed," Secretary Gassman said. "While unemployment is still high in some areas, it is encouraging to see this improvement in addition to the improvements made last month," she said. In April 68 counties had decreases in unemployment.
Twenty-three of the State's seventy-two counties reported unemployment rates at or lower than 4.5 percent for May. Thirteen of these were at or below 4.0 percent. Dane County at 2.6 percent and Pepin County at 3.3 percent reported the State's lowest unemployment rates.
Thirteen of the State's counties reported a 6.5 percent or higher unemployment rate. Seven counties had unemployment rates at 7.5 percent or higher. Menominee County had the highest rate at 11.1 percent, followed by Iron and Oconto counties at 8.5 percent.
Twenty counties in the State experienced 2 percentage point drops or greater between their April and May unemployment rates. Vilas County's rate dropped from 9.7 percent in April to 5.7 percent in May, Polk County's rate dropped from 9.9 percent in April to 5.8 percent in May, Pepin County dropped from a 6.4 percent rate in April to a 3.3 percent rate in May. Several areas in the state saw considerable improvement.
The far northeastern and southeastern counties appeared to be the areas generally experiencing the most prolonged difficulties. The durable goods manufacturing industry continues to be very sluggish, with no real positive hiring occurring.
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This release also is available at www.dwd.state.wi.us/lmi.
| Unadjusted estimates | Current | Month Ago | Year Ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total labor force | 3,077,100 | 3,076,100 | 3,011,100 |
| Employed | 2,921,200 | 2,898,000 | 2,861,300 |
| Unemployed | 155,900 | 178,100 | 149,900 |
| Wis. Unemployment Rate | 5.1% | 5.8% | 5.0% |
| U.S. Unemployment Rate | 5.8% | 5.8% | 5.5% |
| Seasonally adjusted | Current | Month Ago | Year Ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total labor force | 3,089,900 | 3,093,600 | 3,023,200 |
| Employed | 2,924,100 | 2,927,300 | 2,863,700 |
| Unemployed | 165,700 | 166,300 | 159,500 |
| Wis. Unemployment Rate | 5.4% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| U.S. Unemployment Rate | 6.1% | 6.0% | 5.8% |
| *State current mo. Area prior mo. | Unemployment % seasonally adjusted | Current Month | Month Ago | Year Ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23rd | Wisconsin | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| 170th | Appleton-Oshkosh | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| 219th | Eau Claire | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| 150th | Green Bay | 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.5 |
265th
|
Janesville-Beloit |
6.3 |
6.9 |
6.6 |
|
| 238th | Kenosha | 5.9 | 6.1 | 5.6 |
| 88th | La Crosse | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.2 |
| 10th | Madison | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| 238th | Milwaukee-Waukesha | 5.8 | 5.9 | 5.7 |
| 304th | Racine | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| 140th | Sheboygan | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.6 |
| 140th | Wausau | 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.7 |
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Source *Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
| RANK | COUNTY | RATE | LAST RATE | LAST RANK | YR AGO RATE | RANK | COUNTY | RATE | LAST RATE | LAST RANK | YR AGO RATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59 | ADAMS | 4.1% | 5.1% | 58 | 4.1% | 62 | MARATHON | 4.0% | 4.9% | 63 | 4.2% |
| 8 | ASHLAND | 7.2% | 9.6% | 8 | 8.5% | 13 | MARINETTE | 6.5% | 7.5% | 25 | 6.1% |
| 46 | BARRON | 4.8% | 7.3% | 26 | 5.0% | 11 | MARQUETTE | 7.0% | 8.9% | 12 | 7.0% |
| 30 | BAYFIELD | 5.3% | 8.8% | 13 | 5.7% | 1 | MENOMINEE | 11.1% | 12.2% | 2 | 11.9% |
| 50 | BROWN | 4.6% | 5.0% | 61 | 4.5% | 12 | MILWAUKEE | 6.8% | 6.8% | 32 | 6.6% |
| 67 | BUFFALO | 3.8% | 5.2% | 57 | 3.9% | 56 | MONROE | 4.2% | 4.9% | 64 | 4.8% |
| 54 | BURNETT | 4.2% | 6.1% | 46 | 5.1% | 3 | OCONTO | 8.5% | 9.3% | 11 | 7.5% |
| 53 | CALUMET | 4.4% | 4.8% | 67 | 4.5% | 45 | ONEIDA | 4.8% | 7.8% | 21 | 5.0% |
| 32 | CHIPPEWA | 5.3% | 7.3% | 27 | 6.1% | 48 | OUTAGAMIE | 4.7% | 5.4% | 54 | 4.7% |
| 16 | CLARK | 6.1% | 8.7% | 14 | 5.9% | 66 | OZAUKEE | 3.9% | 4.0% | 71 | 3.8% |
| 28 | COLUMBIA | 5.4% | 6.5% | 38 | 5.2% | 71 | PEPIN | 3.3% | 6.4% | 40 | 5.4% |
| 37 | CRAWFORD | 5.2% | 6.6% | 35 | 5.0% | 58 | PIERCE | 4.1% | 5.7% | 49 | 4.1% |
| 72 | DANE | 2.6% | 2.7% | 72 | 2.4% | 21 | POLK | 5.8% | 9.9% | 3 | 6.1% |
| 29 | DODGE | 5.4% | 6.2% | 45 | 5.3% | 47 | PORTAGE | 4.8% | 5.5% | 52 | 4.9% |
| 6 | DOOR | 7.7% | 9.7% | 7 | 4.1% | 31 | PRICE | 5.3% | 7.5% | 23 | 5.5% |
| 40 | DOUGLAS | 5.0% | 6.2% | 43 | 5.8% | 7 | RACINE | 7.5% | 8.1% | 19 | 7.0% |
| 64 | DUNN | 3.9% | 5.6% | 50 | 3.7% | 63 | RICHLAND | 3.9% | 6.3% | 41 | 3.9% |
| 57 | EAU CLAIRE | 4.2% | 4.7% | 68 | 4.1% | 20 | ROCK | 6.0% | 6.5% | 39 | 6.3% |
| 9 | FLORENCE | 7.1% | 9.5% | 10 | 7.6% | 35 | RUSK | 5.2% | 8.4% | 17 | 7.6% |
| 43 | FOND DU LAC | 4.9% | 5.3% | 55 | 4.4% | 69 | SAUK | 3.7% | 5.2% | 56 | 3.6% |
| 10 | FOREST | 7.0% | 9.7% | 6 | 6.4% | 41 | SAWYER | 4.9% | 8.0% | 20 | 4.7% |
| 38 | GRANT | 5.2% | 6.5% | 36 | 4.1% | 33 | SHAWANO | 5.3% | 6.7% | 33 | 5.3% |
| 17 | GREEN | 6.1% | 7.0% | 30 | 5.8% | 49 | SHEBOYGAN | 4.7% | 4.9% | 65 | 4.5% |
| 24 | GREEN LAKE | 5.6% | 7.2% | 28 | 5.8% | 15 | ST. CROIX | 6.3% | 8.2% | 18 | 5.7% |
| 61 | IOWA | 4.0% | 4.9% | 62 | 3.4% | 27 | TAYLOR | 5.5% | 8.5% | 16 | 5.0% |
| 2 | IRON | 8.5% | 12.8% | 1 | 8.2% | 51 | TREMPEALEAU | 4.5% | 6.3% | 42 | 4.6% |
| 68 | JACKSON | 3.7% | 5.5% | 51 | 4.1% | 55 | VERNON | 4.2% | 5.8% | 48 | 5.0% |
| 52 | JEFFERSON | 4.5% | 5.1% | 59 | 4.4% | 23 | VILAS | 5.7% | 9.7% | 5 | 4.1% |
| 4 | JUNEAU | 8.0% | 9.6% | 9 | 8.9% | 65 | WALWORTH | 3.9% | 4.8% | 66 | 4.1% |
| 26 | KENOSHA | 5.6% | 6.0% | 47 | 5.3% | 36 | WASHBURN | 5.2% | 7.7% | 22 | 5.8% |
| 18 | KEWAUNEE | 6.1% | 6.8% | 31 | 4.1% | 42 | WASHINGTON | 4.9% | 5.5% | 53 | 4.3% |
| 70 | LA CROSSE | 3.6% | 4.0% | 70 | 3.8% | 60 | WAUKESHA | 4.1% | 4.5% | 69 | 4.3% |
| 25 | LAFAYETTE | 5.6% | 7.0% | 29 | 5.8% | 34 | WAUPACA | 5.3% | 6.5% | 37 | 4.9% |
| 5 | LANGLADE | 7.7% | 9.8% | 4 | 6.7% | 22 | WAUSHARA | 5.8% | 6.7% | 34 | 6.1% |
| 14 | LINCOLN | 6.3% | 8.6% | 15 | 6.6% | 44 | WINNEBAGO | 4.9% | 5.1% | 60 | 4.7% |
| 19 | MANITOWOC | 6.0% | 7.5% | 24 | 6.0% | 39 | WOOD | 5.1% | 6.2% | 44 | 5.4% |
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Workforce Information
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
| RANK | CITY | RATE | LAST | LAST | YR AGO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RATE | RANK | RATE | |||
| 11 | APPLETON CITY | 6.4% | 6.9% | 10 | 6.4% |
| 3 | BELOIT CITY | 8.4% | 8.9% | 4 | 9.9% |
| 27 | BROOKFIELD CITY | 3.4% | 3.4% | 27 | 3.7% |
| 20 | EAU CLAIRE CITY | 4.9% | 5.5% | 19 | 4.9% |
| 9 | FOND DU LAC CITY | 6.7% | 6.9% | 11 | 5.7% |
| 21 | FRANKLIN CITY | 4.8% | 5.2% | 21 | 4.7% | 6 | GREEN BAY CITY | 7.2% | 7.8% | 7 | 7.1% |
| 23 | GREENFIELD CITY | 4.6% | 4.6% | 23 | 3.6% |
| 12 | JANESVILLE CITY | 6.1% | 6.5% | 12 | 6.0% |
| 10 | KENOSHA CITY | 6.6% | 7.0% | 9 | 6.4% |
| 22 | LA CROSSE CITY | 4.6% | 5.1% | 22 | 5.0% |
| 28 | MADISON CITY | 2.7% | 2.7% | 28 | 2.7% |
| 4 | MANITOWOC CITY | 7.7% | 9.4% | 2 | 7.6% |
| 25 | MENOMONEE FALLS VILLAGE | 4.1% | 4.3% | 24 | 3.8% |
| 2 | MILWAUKEE CITY | 9.3% | 9.2% | 3 | 9.2% |
| 7 | NEENAH CITY | 7.0% | 7.2% | 8 | 6.8% |
| 24 | NEW BERLIN CITY | 4.2% | 3.9% | 26 | 4.3% |
| 19 | OAK CREEK CITY | 5.2% | 5.5% | 20 | 4.9% |
| 16 | OSHKOSH CITY | 5.6% | 6.0% | 17 | 5.5% |
| 1 | RACINE CITY | 12.0% | 12.6% | 1 | 10.9% |
| 13 | SHEBOYGAN CITY | 6.1% | 6.3% | 15 | 5.7% |
| 8 | STEVENS POINT CITY | 6.8% | 7.9% | 6 | 7.1% |
| 18 | SUPERIOR CITY | 5.3% | 5.6% | 18 | 5.9% |
| 15 | WAUKESHA CITY | 5.6% | 6.4% | 13 | 5.7% |
| 17 | WAUSAU CITY | 5.5% | 6.0% | 16 | 5.4% |
| 26 | WAUWATOSA CITY | 3.7% | 3.9% | 25 | 4.4% |
| 14 | WEST ALLIS CITY | 5.9% | 6.3% | 14 | 5.6% |
| 5 | WEST BEND CITY | 7.2% | 8.3% | 5 | 6.3% |
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Workforce Information
Division of Administrative
Services
Content Contact: Rose
Lynch