Home > News Releases > November Local Unemployment Rates Announced

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development News Release
Tuesday, December 23, 2003 Governor Jim Doyle Secretary Roberta Gassman	News Media Contact Rose Lynch 608/266-6753 Terry Ludeman (608) 267-3262 Actuality Line (866) 556-7623 e-mail: news@dwd.state.wi.us fax: 608/266-1784

November Local Unemployment Rates Announced

62 counties report lower unemployment rates

Madison – Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced that 62 counties reported lower unemployment rates last month than they had experienced in November 2002. Twenty-nine counties reported unemployment rates of 4.0 percent or less.

"Wisconsin counties and metropolitan areas continued to see improvement in the labor market last month, with 62 out of 72 counties reporting lower unemployment rates than last year," said Secretary Gassman. "While there is improvement in labor market conditions, sluggishness continues in the southeastern and eastern parts of the state, largely in manufacturing, which we continue to watch closely."

There were twenty counties in the state with unemployment rates under 4.0 percent, and nine with unemployment rates of 4.0 percent exactly. The lowest unemployment rate was recorded in Dane County at 2.2 percent. Iowa County reported 2.8 percent, Dunn County 3.1 percent and Calumet and La Crosse County 3.2 percent. The highest unemployment rate was reported in Menominee County at 9.2 percent, Door County reported a 7.7 percent rate, Oconto at 7.6 percent and Langlade County at 7.4 percent.

Considerable improvement was seen for the metropolitan statistical areas throughout the state as all 11 had lower seasonally adjusted rates in November 2003 than they had experienced last month and one year ago. The La Crosse metropolitan area reported a seasonally adjusted rate of 3.9 percent and the Madison area’s seasonally adjusted rate was 2.5 percent. Most areas of the state saw seasonally adjusted rates of 4.5 percent or lower, except the southeastern portion of the state, including Janesville/Beloit. In those areas, seasonally adjusted unemployment rates were much higher. The Kenosha metro reported 5.4 percent, Racine metro reported 7.2 percent, Milwaukee metro reported 5.6 percent and Janesville/Beloit reported a 6.1 percent seasonally adjusted rate.

Areas with a higher concentration of durable goods manufacturing are where the unemployment rates remain higher. Several areas in the state saw some slight increases in manufacturing employment – Racine was up 400 jobs over last month and was up 200 jobs over last year’s November figure. Wausau was up 200 over last month’s figure and up 400 jobs from last year’s November figure. The Green Bay metro area and the Appleton/Oshkosh metro area was also up slightly in manufacturing. The Milwaukee area, however, continues to struggle in manufacturing.

Employment and Labor Force

Household Survey

Unadjusted estimates	Current	Month Ago	Year Ago
Total labor force	3,074,600	3,090,500	3,016,100
Employed	2,937,600	2,949,500	2,865,800
Unemployed	137,000	141,000	150,300
Wis. Unemployment Rate	4.5%	4.6%	5.0%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	5.6%	5.6%	5.6%

Seasonally adjusted	Current	Month Ago	Year Ago
Total labor force	3,091,000	3,108,000	3,025,800
Employed	2,937,600	2,940,700	2,857,600
Unemployed	153,400	167,300	168,200
Wis. Unemployment Rate	5.0%	5.4%	5.6%
U.S. Unemployment Rate	5.9%	6.0%	5.9%

*State current mo. Area prior mo.	Unemployment % seasonally adjusted	Current Month	Month Ago	Year Ago
27th	Wisconsin	5.0	5.4	5.6
86th	Appleton-Oshkosh	4.3	4.6	5.0
55th	Eau Claire	4.5	4.8	5.1
89th	Green Bay	4.5	4.6	5.4
233rd	Janesville-Beloit	6.1	6.3	6.7
178th	Kenosha	5.4	5.8	6.3
37th	La Crosse	3.9	4.2	4.3
6th	Madison	2.5	2.8	2.7
217th	Milwaukee-Waukesha	5.6	5.8	6.2
287th	Racine	7.2	7.9	8.2
97th	Sheboygan	4.3	4.6	5.0
37th	Wausau	4.1	4.6	4.8
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

WISCONSIN COUNTIES

Unemployment Rates November 2003 (view maps)
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)

RANK		RATE	LAST RATE	LAST RATE	YR AGO RATE	RANK	COUNTY	RATE	LAST RATE		YR AGO RATE

54	ADAMS	3.9%	3.4%	64	5.3%	66	MARATHON	3.4%	3.5%	59	4.0%
15	ASHLAND	5.9%	5.9%	11	7.1%	12	MARINETTE	6.3%	6.2%	9	6.3%
21	BARRON	5.3%	4.9%	22	5.2%	5	MARQUETTE	7.3%	6.2%	10	8.2%
14	BAYFIELD	6.1%	4.2%	41	7.3%	1	MENOMINEE	9.2%	9.6%	1	12.0%
46	BROWN	4.0%	4.1%	43	4.8%	13	MILWAUKEE	6.1%	6.6%	7	6.8%
51	BUFFALO	4.0%	3.4%	65	4.1%	35	MONROE	4.6%	4.5%	29	4.8%

52	BURNETT	4.0%	3.4%	66	4.5%	3	OCONTO	7.6%	7.7%	2	7.6%
68	CALUMET	3.2%	3.5%	57	4.3%	27	ONEIDA	5.0%	4.2%	40	6.1%
37	CHIPPEWA	4.5%	4.3%	37	5.2%	47	OUTAGAMIE	4.0%	4.0%	47	4.5%
26	CLARK	5.0%	4.6%	28	6.0%	56	OZAUKEE	3.7%	4.0%	46	3.9%
25	COLUMBIA	5.0%	4.9%	21	5.6%	59	PEPIN	3.7%	3.2%	69	4.8%
49	CRAWFORD	4.0%	3.7%	52	4.0%	58	PIERCE	3.7%	3.6%	56	4.3%

72	DANE	2.2%	2.4%	72	2.4%	29	POLK	4.9%	4.5%	30	5.7%
34	DODGE	4.6%	5.0%	20	5.2%	63	PORTAGE	3.5%	3.5%	60	4.0%
2	DOOR	7.7%	5.4%	17	5.8%	40	PRICE	4.3%	4.4%	31	4.5%
33	DOUGLAS	4.7%	4.8%	23	4.5%	11	RACINE	6.4%	7.0%	5	7.2%
70	DUNN	3.1%	3.0%	70	3.6%	67	RICHLAND	3.4%	3.4%	62	4.4%
61	EAU CLAIRE	3.6%	3.4%	63	4.1%	20	ROCK	5.3%	5.8%	12	5.9%

7	FLORENCE	7.2%	6.4%	8	9.7%	30	RUSK	4.9%	4.4%	34	6.2%
48	FOND DU LAC	4.0%	3.9%	50	4.2%	62	SAUK	3.6%	3.3%	67	4.2%
16	FOREST	5.8%	5.6%	13	6.0%	24	SAWYER	5.2%	3.8%	51	5.5%
60	GRANT	3.6%	3.6%	55	4.6%	36	SHAWANO	4.6%	4.4%	33	4.9%
44	GREEN	4.0%	4.3%	35	4.4%	45	SHEBOYGAN	4.0%	4.2%	39	4.6%
18	GREEN LAKE	5.4%	5.5%	14	6.1%	23	ST. CROIX	5.2%	4.7%	27	5.8%

71	IOWA	2.8%	2.5%	71	3.3%	42	TAYLOR	4.3%	3.7%	54	4.6%
8	IRON	7.0%	5.1%	19	9.6%	50	TREMPEALEAU	4.0%	3.7%	53	5.1%
64	JACKSON	3.5%	3.2%	68	4.3%	41	VERNON	4.3%	4.1%	44	4.9%
55	JEFFERSON	3.8%	3.9%	49	4.2%	17	VILAS	5.6%	4.3%	38	5.4%
6	JUNEAU	7.2%	7.2%	4	8.3%	65	WALWORTH	3.4%	3.5%	58	4.3%
31	KENOSHA	4.8%	5.2%	18	5.5%	10	WASHBURN	6.5%	5.4%	16	6.2%

19	KEWAUNEE	5.4%	5.4%	15	5.6%	43	WASHINGTON	4.1%	4.3%	36	4.7%
69	LA CROSSE	3.2%	3.4%	61	3.9%	57	WAUKESHA	3.7%	3.9%	48	4.0%
38	LAFAYETTE	4.5%	4.1%	45	6.5%	39	WAUPACA	4.4%	4.4%	32	5.0%
4	LANGLADE	7.4%	6.8%	6	8.0%	28	WAUSHARA	4.9%	4.8%	24	5.9%
22	LINCOLN	5.2%	4.8%	25	5.7%	53	WINNEBAGO	3.9%	4.1%	42	4.5%
9	MANITOWOC	6.9%	7.3%	3	6.4%	32	WOOD	4.8%	4.7%	26	4.8%

WISCONSIN CITIES

Unemployment Rates - November 2003
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)

RANK	CITY	RATE	LAST RATE	LAST RANK	YR AGO RATE

12	APPLETON CITY	5.2%	5.4%	11	6.3%
3	BELOIT CITY	8.4%	8.5%	4	9.3%
25	BROOKFIELD CITY	3.3%	3.6%	26	3.6%
20	EAU CLAIRE CITY	4.2%	4.0%	23	4.6%
11	FOND DU LAC CITY	5.3%	5.0%	15	5.4%
21	FRANKLIN CITY	4.0%	4.1%	21	5.0%

6	GREEN BAY CITY	6.2%	6.4%	6	7.6%
22	GREENFIELD CITY	3.8%	4.2%	20	4.0%
10	JANESVILLE CITY	5.3%	6.1%	7	6.1%
8	KENOSHA CITY	5.7%	6.1%	8	6.7%
23	LA CROSSE CITY	3.8%	4.0%	22	5.1%
28	MADISON CITY	2.3%	2.4%	28	2.6%

2	MANITOWOC CITY	8.8%	9.1%	2	8.1%
26	MENOMONEE FALLS VILLAGE	3.3%	3.4%	27	3.9%
4	MILWAUKEE CITY	8.3%	9.0%	3	9.4%
7	NEENAH CITY	5.8%	6.1%	9	6.2%
27	NEW BERLIN CITY	3.1%	3.6%	25	3.6%
19	OAK CREEK CITY	4.5%	4.6%	18	5.1%

18	OSHKOSH CITY	4.5%	4.8%	17	5.3%
1	RACINE CITY	10.0%	11.0%	1	11.8%
14	SHEBOYGAN CITY	4.9%	5.3%	12	5.9%
15	STEVENS POINT CITY	4.8%	4.6%	19	5.6%
16	SUPERIOR CITY	4.7%	5.0%	14	4.4%
9	WAUKESHA CITY	5.4%	5.5%	10	5.5%
17	WAUSAU CITY	4.5%	4.9%	16	5.4%
24	WAUWATOSA CITY	3.6%	3.9%	24	4.4%
13	WEST ALLIS CITY	5.1%	5.2%	13	5.8%
5	WEST BEND CITY	6.4%	6.5%	5	6.6%

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Content Contact: Rose Lynch


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