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We've got NEWS Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Governor Jim Doyle Secretary Roberta Gassman News Media Contact Teresa Weidemann-Smith 608/266-3999 e-mail: news@dwd.state.wi.us fax: 608/266-1784

September Local Unemployment Rates Announced

Madison – Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced that 71 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties saw improved unemployment rates between August and September, while none of the state’s 28 largest cities reported increases for the month of September.

"The September drop in unemployment for nearly every county and city in Wisconsin is encouraging news, especially on the heels of improvements reported in August and July," Secretary Gassman said. "We remain concerned, however, that many areas are still seeing higher unemployment than they were a year ago and the Department is committed to working with Governor Doyle and other cabinet secretaries on ways to grow Wisconsin’s economy and improve our employment picture," Gassman said.

The lone county with a higher September rate was Burnett, which went from 3.3 percent in August to 3.4 percent in September. Of Wisconsin’s 28 largest cities, all but Brookfield and Greenfield, located in the southeast part of the state, saw improvement in their rates. Those two cities remained the same at 4.0 percent and 4.9 percent respectively.

There were 18 counties in Wisconsin with unemployment rates at or below 4.0 percent in September. Nine counties were at or below 4.0 percent in August. This compares to 27 counties that were at or below 4.0 percent one year ago.

Five of the state’s largest cities reported rates at or below 4.0 percent in September compared to two in August and five one year ago. Eight cities had rates equal to or lower than they reported one year ago.

Local government employment showed the largest industry employment increase with 12,000 more jobs in September; most of these jobs were in local school districts for the new academic year. Leisure and hospitality employment showed a seasonal decline of 13,400 jobs. Manufacturing employment, which declined in September by 6,900 jobs from a statewide perspective, showed small, monthly increases in Dane and Racine Counties of 100 and 200 jobs, respectively.

Employment and Labor Force

Household Survey

Unadjusted estimates	Current	Month Ago	Year Ago
Total labor force	3,087,200	3,131,900	3,008,200
Employed	2,936,400	2,961,700	2,869,800
Unemployed	150,800	170,200	138,400
Wis. Unemployment Rate	4.9%	5.4%	4.6%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	5.8%	6.0%	5.4%

Seasonally adjusted	Current	Month Ago	Year Ago
Total labor force	3,104,900	3,103,300	3,020,300
Employed	2,927,600	2,920,800	2,855,000
Unemployed	177,300	182,500	165,300
Wis. Unemployment Rate	5.7%	5.9%	5.5%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	6.1%	6.1%	5.7%

 

*State current mo. Area prior month	Unemployment % seasonally adjusted	Current Month	Month Ago	Year Ago
32nd	Wisconsin	5.7	5.9	5.5
125th	Appleton-Oshkosh	5.1	5.5	5.2
116th	Eau Claire	5.4	5.5	5.1
125th	Green Bay	4.9	5.3	4.8
255th	Janesville-Beloit	6.9	7.0	6.6
215th	Kenosha	6.1	6.4	5.9
55th	La Crosse	4.1	4.3	4.2
13th	Madison	3.0	3.2	2.7
255th	Milwaukee-Waukesha	6.2	6.3	5.8
311th	Racine	8.3	8.6	7.6
106th	Sheboygan	4.7	5.0	4.6
84th	Wausau	4.8	5.0	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

WISCONSIN COUNTIES

Unemployment Rates - September 2003
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)

Maps of September 2003 Unemployment Rates by County

RANK	COUNTY		RATE		LAST RATE		LAST RATE	YR AGO RATE	RANK	COUNTY	RATE	LAST RATE	LAST RATE		YR AGO RATE
63	ADAMS	3.7%		4.0%		64		3.4%	58	MARATHON	3.8%	4.3%	61	3.6%
14	ASHLAND	5.6%		6.9%		10		6.0%	9	MARINETTE	6.3%	7.1%		8	5.7%
29	BARRON	4.9%		5.0%		41		4.2%	12	MARQUETTE	5.9%	6.1%		18	5.7%
48	BAYFIELD	4.2%		4.5%		55		3.8%	1	MENOMINEE	10.9%	12.7%		1	10.7%
44	BROWN	4.3%		4.8%		45		4.3%	7	MILWAUKEE	7.1%	7.8%		6	6.7%
62	BUFFALO	3.7%		4.2%		63		2.9%	16	MONROE	5.6%	6.2%		16	4.3%
68	BURNETT	3.4%		3.3%		70		3.7%	2	OCONTO	8.6%	9.4%		2	6.6%
53	CALUMET	4.0%		4.5%		53		4.1%	45	ONEIDA	4.3%	4.7%		48	5.0%
40	CHIPPEWA	4.5%		4.9%		44		4.4%	39	OUTAGAMIE	4.5%	5.0%		40	4.7%
28	CLARK	4.9%		5.5%		29		4.4%	42	OZAUKEE	4.4%	4.9%		43	3.8%
33	COLUMBIA	4.7%		5.6%		27		4.4%	65	PEPIN	3.6%	4.5%		52	3.6%
54	CRAWFORD	4.0%		4.5%		54		3.4%	61	PIERCE	3.7%	4.4%		58	4.1%
72	DANE	2.6%		2.9%		72		2.4%	21	POLK	5.2%	5.3%		33	4.7%
22	DODGE	5.1%		7.0%		9		4.4%	60	PORTAGE	3.7%	5.1%		36	3.6%
17	DOOR	5.6%		5.9%		22		2.9%	27	PRICE	4.9%	5.7%		24	4.2%
30	DOUGLAS	4.8%		5.7%		23		3.9%	4	RACINE	7.4%	8.4%		5	6.7%
66	DUNN	3.5%		4.2%		62		3.1%	56	RICHLAND	3.8%	4.4%		59	3.8%
55	EAU CLAIRE	3.9%		4.6%		49		3.6%	10	ROCK	6.1%	6.6%		14	5.9%
5	FLORENCE	7.4%		6.7%		12		7.3%	34	RUSK	4.7%	5.2%		35	5.3%
41	FOND DU LAC	4.4%		5.2%		34		4.0%	70	SAUK	3.3%	3.4%		69	3.3%
23	FOREST	5.1%		6.8%		11		5.2%	49	SAWYER	4.2%	4.5%		56	3.5%
51	GRANT	4.1%		4.9%		42		4.4%	32	SHAWANO	4.8%	5.3%		32	4.4%
25	GREEN	5.0%		5.4%		31		4.5%	47	SHEBOYGAN	4.2%	4.6%		51	4.1%
36	GREEN LAKE	4.5%		5.4%		30		4.5%	13	ST. CROIX	5.7%	6.2%		17	5.5%
71	IOWA	3.0%		3.2%		71		3.4%	57	TAYLOR	3.8%	4.4%		60	3.4%
11	IRON	5.9%		6.6%		13		5.6%	52	TREMPEALEAU	4.1%	4.7%		47	4.0%
69	JACKSON	3.3%		3.5%		68		3.3%	38	VERNON	4.5%	5.0%		39	4.1%
50	JEFFERSON	4.2%		4.5%		57		3.8%	59	VILAS	3.8%	4.0%		66	2.8%
3	JUNEAU	7.8%		8.6%		4		7.1%	64	WALWORTH	3.7%	4.0%		65	3.9%
19	KENOSHA	5.4%		5.9%		21		5.2%	18	WASHBURN	5.4%	6.0%		20	4.3%
15	KEWAUNEE	5.6%		6.4%		15		5.2%	37	WASHINGTON	4.5%	5.1%		37	4.3%
67	LA CROSSE	3.4%		3.9%		67		3.5%	46	WAUKESHA	4.2%	4.6%		50	4.0%
31	LAFAYETTE	4.8%		5.5%		28		5.7%	35	WAUPACA	4.7%	5.1%		38	4.3%
6	LANGLADE	7.1%		8.6%		3		6.2%	24	WAUSHARA	5.1%	5.7%		25	4.6%
20	LINCOLN	5.2%		5.7%		26		4.7%	43	WINNEBAGO	4.4%	4.8%		46	4.3%
8	MANITOWOC	7.1%		7.4%		7		5.4%	26	WOOD	4.9%	6.0%		19	4.6%

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Workforce Information
Maps of September 2003 Unemployment Rates by County

WISCONSIN CITIES

Unemployment Rates - September 2003
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)

RANK	CITY	RATE	LAST RATE	LAST RANK	YR AGO RATE
11	APPLETON CITY	6.1%	6.7%	11	6.2%
4	BELOIT CITY	8.9%	9.7%	3	9.4%
25	BROOKFIELD CITY	4.0%	4.0%	27	3.7%
21	EAU CLAIRE CITY	4.4%	5.2%	21	4.3%
10	FOND DU LAC CITY	6.1%	6.9%	10	5.3%
23	FRANKLIN CITY	4.3%	5.0%	22	4.5%
6	GREEN BAY CITY	6.8%	7.6%	6	6.7%
19	GREENFIELD CITY	4.9%	4.9%	23	4.1%
9	JANESVILLE CITY	6.4%	6.7%	12	6.0%
8	KENOSHA CITY	6.5%	7.2%	7	6.2%
22	LA CROSSE CITY	4.3%	5.2%	20	4.7%
28	MADISON CITY	2.8%	3.1%	28	2.7%
3	MANITOWOC CITY	9.0%	9.1%	4	6.5%
26	MENOMONEE FALLS VILLAGE	3.9%	4.2%	25	3.6%
2	MILWAUKEE CITY	9.7%	10.7%	2	9.3%
7	NEENAH CITY	6.8%	7.1%	9	6.1%
27	NEW BERLIN CITY	3.8%	4.2%	24	3.6%
16	OAK CREEK CITY	5.3%	6.1%	16	5.0%
20	OSHKOSH CITY	4.8%	5.6%	19	4.9%
1	RACINE CITY	11.4%	13.5%	1	10.8%
14	SHEBOYGAN CITY	5.4%	6.0%	18	5.0%
15	STEVENS POINT CITY	5.3%	7.1%	8	5.5%
18	SUPERIOR CITY	5.2%	6.3%	14	3.8%
12	WAUKESHA CITY	5.8%	6.5%	13	5.6%
17	WAUSAU CITY	5.3%	6.1%	17	5.1%
24	WAUWATOSA CITY	4.0%	4.1%	26	4.1%
13	WEST ALLIS CITY	5.5%	6.2%	15	5.5%
5	WEST BEND CITY	6.8%	7.8%	5	6.4%

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Workforce Information

News Release Index Page

Content Contact: Teresa Weidemann-Smith

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