Home > News Releases > October Unemployment Rates Announced

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development News Release
Thursday, November 20, 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

October Unemployment Rates Announced

Madison – Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced that Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was estimated to be 4.6 percent in October. That compares to a national unemployment rate of 5.6 percent in October.

"These figures are another good round of employment news for Wisconsin workers," Secretary Gassman said. "The total number of people employed is up 15,554 from September and up 75,928 from last October. In addition, unemployment is down substantially from last month," she said.

The jobs in Wisconsin’s nonfarm wage and salary economy also increased in October, up to 2,811,200 from the 2,791,000 estimated for September and from the October 2002 figure of 2,807,700. The largest increases over the month prior were reported for local government, with an increase of 18,700 jobs. Most of that increase is explained by the later start time for school districts throughout the State. Local government was actually down by 4,800 jobs from last year’s October figure. There were also substantial increases in trade and in educational and health care services, both over the month and over the year. The educational services referenced are private educational service as opposed to local government educational services. Private educational services include private colleges and universities, for profit educational services, and private K-12 educational services. It also includes services provided to public school districts when those services are in the private sector. This would include school busing firms and private food service firms.

Wisconsin manufacturing continued to post job losses, with October’s figure estimated to be 509,500 compared to last month at 514,500 and last year’s October figure at 527,500. Year to date, Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector has averaged 516,640 jobs per month compared to 529,830 for the same period in 2002.

Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4 percent for October, while the US seasonally adjusted rate was 6.0 percent in October.

Claims for unemployment insurance in 2003 continue to be very nearly a duplicate of last year’s figures. For the first 46 weeks of the year, initial claims for unemployment insurance in 2003 have averaged 13,041 compared to 12,814 for the same period in 2002.

October employment and unemployment figures for individual counties will be available November 25. This release also is available at http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/lmi.

WISCONSIN LABOR FORCE SUMMARY
In Thousands

NET CHANGE FROM
ITEM	PRELIM. OCT 03	FINAL SEPT 03	YEAR AGO OCT 02		MONTH AGO	YEAR AGO
PLACE OF RESIDENCE DATA
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE	3094.2	3088.8	3016.3		5.4	77.9
UNEMPLOYMENT	140.8	151.0	138.8		-10.2	2.0
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE	4.6	4.9	4.6		-0.3	0.0
EMPLOYMENT (1) ..........................................	2953.4	2937.8	2877.4		15.6	76.0
PLACE OF WORK DATA
NONFARM WAGE & SALARY .....................…	2811.2	2791	2807.7		20.2	3.5
TOTAL PRIVATE ..........................................…	2393	2395	2381.5		-2.0	11.5
GOODS PRODUCING .....................................	637.1	642.9	661.8		-5.8	-24.7
NATURAL RESOURCES & MINING ..............	4.7	4.6	4.3		0.1	0.4
CONSTRUCTION ........................................…	122.9	123.8	130		-0.9	-7.1
MANUFACTURING .........................................	509.5	514.5	527.5		-5.0	-18.0
Durable Goods .........................................…	306	308	322.5		-2.0	-16.5
Nondurable Goods .......................................	203.5	206.5	205		-3.0	-1.5
SERVICE PRODUCING ..................................	2174.1	2148.1	2145.9		26.0	28.2
TRADE ............................................................	441.7	436.6	431.6		5.1	10.1
Wholesale Trade ..........................................	119	118.6	114.7		0.4	4.3
Retail Trade ........................................……..	322.7	318	316.9		4.7	5.8
TRANS., WAREHOUSE, & UTILITIES ...........	106.3	105.6	106.4		0.7	-0.1
Utilities .................................................…….	11.1	11.3	11.8		-0.2	-0.7
Information ...............................................….	50.1	50.4	50.2		-0.3	-0.1
FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES .............................…	158.4	158.6	153.6		-0.2	4.8
Finance and Insurance .................................	128.2	128.4	126.4		-0.2	1.8
Real Estate, Rental, & Lease .......................	30.2	30.2	27.2		0.0	3.0
PROFESSIONAL & BUSINESS SERVICES ..	247.2	248	244.9		-0.8	2.3
Prof., Scien., & Tech. Services .................…	88.9	88.1	87.5		0.8	1.4
Mgmt. of Companies and Enterprises ..........	32	32.2	33		-0.2	-1.0
Admin. Support & Waste Mgmt. Services ....	126.3	127.7	124.4		-1.4	1.9
EDUCATIONAL & HEALTH SERVICES	372.9	367.4	360.8		5.5	12.1
Educational Services	49.9	47.7	46.4		2.2	3.5
Health Care & Social Assistance	323	319.7	314.4		3.3	8.6
LEISURE & HOSPITALITY	241.3	248.9	237.7		-7.6	3.6
Arts, Entertain., & Recreation	34.5	38.4	31.3		-3.9	3.2
Accommodation & Food Services	206.8	210.5	206.4		-3.7	0.4
OTHER SERVICES, except Public Admin	138	136.6	134.5		1.4	3.5
GOVERNMENT	418.2	396	426.2		22.2	-8.0
Federal Government	28.5	28.6	29.5		-0.1	-1.0
State Government	101.9	98.3	104.1		3.6	-2.2
Local Government	287.8	269.1	292.6		18.7	-4.8
PERSONS INVOLVED IN L-M DISPUTES ..…	470.0	470.0		110.0	0.0		360.0
(1) Includes L-M Disputes
SEASONALLY ADJUSTED LABOR FORCE ESTIMATES
CIVILIAN LABOR FORCE	3111.6	3106.5	3027.2		5.1	84.4
UNEMPLOYMENT	167.1	177.5	166.2		-10.4	0.9
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE	5.4	5.7	5.5		-0.3	-0.1
EMPLOYMENT	2944.5	2929.0	2861.0		15.5	83.5
NONFARM WAGE & SALARY	2785.9	2776.9	2781.6		9.0	4.3

*Differences in totals may occur as a result of rounding.

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Content Contact: Rose Lynch

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