Department of Workforce Development

Wisconsin’s seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in mid-March was a preliminary 3.1 percent, keeping it at about its 28-year low, a state agency official announced today.

"We now are tied with March of 1970 for the second lowest rate since the current method of record-keeping began that year," said Bruce Hagen, Deputy Secretary of the State Department of Workforce Development.

"We would have been tied for first place if February this year hadn’t been even a better month for workers and their families than we first thought."

"The bottom line is that Wisconsin’s labor market and economy continue to do extremely well overall, particulary for those who are seeking a job."

Industries with a larger-than-normal number of jobs for mid-March were service, manufacturing, trade, and the finance, insurance and real estate group. Job totals in government, construction, and the transportation and public utilities group declined in number seasonally.

Hagen said employers continue to be scramble to find people they want for some of their job openings. "The number of unfilled job openings listed with Job Service at Job Centers remain high," he said, "and unemployment claims remain low."

Other highlights for mid-March:

• The year-ago state jobless rate was 3.7 percent, which also was the average for the year.

• The comparable U.S. rate was 4.7 percent this March, up over the month from 4.6 percent.

• The number of nonfarm wage and salary jobs in the state grew seasonally, up 1,300 more than normal for the month and up 67,500 over the year.

• The number of jobs (total employment) was up 2.3 percent over a year ago, while the number of persons in the labor force grew by 1.6 percent in the same period. The number of jobless workers declined by 13.6 percent from mid-March 1997.

• Nine of Wisconsin’s 11 major urban areas had increases in their seasonally-adjusted unemployment rates in March, one did not change, and one declined. Over the year, all 11 areas had significant declines in their rates.

• Wisconsin’s nonfarm wage and salary employment rate, at around 57 percent 10 years ago, has remained at its record high of 68.5 percent for the last three months.

Hagen said the revised unemployment rate for the state in February now was estimated at 2.9 per cent. The preliminary February rate originally had been announced at 3.1 percent.

The revision for February made that month’s rate the lowest since at least 1970, when the current methods of estimation were established by the federal government, and tied with January 1969 for lowest ever recorded when another method of estimation was used. The calculation and release of seasonally-adjusted data only began in 1960.

The change in the February rate was made because employment was even higher that month than originally estimated, and unemployment was lower.

Employment and Labor Force
Household Survey

Non-Farm Wage & Salary
Employer Survey

Unemployment by County
March 1998
not seasonally adjusted

RANK  COUNTY       RATE  LAST  LAST   RANK  COUNTY       RATE  LAST  LAST
                         RATE  RANK                            RATE  RANK
   
   30 ADAMS        5.8%  6.3%   22      46 MARATHON      4.6%  4.9%    44
   11 ASHLAND      8.2%  6.9%   17      19 MARINETTE     6.9%  6.7%    19
   31 BARRON       5.8%  5.9%   31      12 MARQUETTE     8.1%  8.7%     5
   14 BAYFIELD     7.9%  7.6%   11       3 MENOMINEE    10.0%  7.6%    12
   64 BROWN        3.1%  3.2%   63      59 MILWAUKEE     3.4%  3.4%    59
   47 BUFFALO      4.5%  4.3%   48      41 MONROE        4.9%  5.2%    41
     
   32 BURNETT      5.6%  6.4%   21      20 OCONTO        6.8%  7.1%    15
   65 CALUMET      3.1%  3.2%   64      22 ONEIDA        6.5%  6.3%    23
   35 CHIPPEWA     5.4%  5.6%   37      56 OUTAGAMIE     3.4%  3.6%    55
    5 CLARK        8.8%  9.0%    3      71 OZAUKEE       2.0%  2.1%    71
   28 COLUMBIA     5.9%  6.2%   24      17 PEPIN         7.0%  7.1%    16
   42 CRAWFORD     4.8%  5.2%   40      57 PIERCE        3.4%  3.6%    56
     
   72 DANE         1.8%  1.9%   72      34 POLK          5.4%  5.7%    35
   60 DODGE        3.4%  3.4%   60      44 PORTAGE       4.7%  4.9%    45
   13 DOOR         8.1%  8.3%    8      15 PRICE         7.8%  6.0%    30
   37 DOUGLAS      5.3%  5.8%   33      49 RACINE        4.1%  4.0%    51
   43 DUNN         4.8%  4.3%   49      29 RICHLAND      5.9%  6.0%    28
   58 EAU CLAIRE   3.4%  3.5%   58      55 ROCK          3.5%  3.6%    57
     
    6 FLORENCE     8.7%  8.3%    9       1 RUSK         10.1%  9.6%     1
   53 FOND DU LAC  3.6%  3.7%   53      40 SAUK          5.0%  5.1%    43
    4 FOREST       9.8%  9.2%    2       7 SAWYER        8.6%  8.7%     6
   39 GRANT        5.0%  5.7%   34      36 SHAWANO       5.4%  5.3%    39
   52 GREEN        3.6%  4.1%   50      69 SHEBOYGAN     2.6%  2.7%    69
   23 GREEN LAKE   6.1%  6.5%   20      54 ST. CROIX     3.6%  3.7%    54
     
   38 IOWA         5.3%  5.6%   36       9 TAYLOR        8.2%  8.4%     7
    2 IRON        10.1%  7.5%   13      25 TREMPEALEAU   6.1%  6.1%    27
   27 JACKSON      6.0%  5.9%   32      33 VERNON        5.5%  5.6%    38
   63 JEFFERSON    3.1%  3.3%   61      10 VILAS         8.2%  7.2%    14
    8 JUNEAU       8.4%  8.9%    4      67 WALWORTH      2.9%  3.2%    62
   66 KENOSHA      3.0%  3.1%   66      16 WASHBURN      7.7%  8.2%    10
     
   48 KEWAUNEE     4.4%  4.7%   46      62 WASHINGTON    3.2%  2.9%    68
   61 LA CROSSE    3.2%  3.2%   65      70 WAUKESHA      2.5%  2.4%    70
   45 LAFAYETTE    4.6%  5.1%   42      51 WAUPACA       3.8%  3.9%    52
   18 LANGLADE     7.0%  6.8%   18      26 WAUSHARA      6.0%  6.1%    25
   21 LINCOLN      6.7%  6.0%   29      68 WINNEBAGO     2.8%  2.9%    67
   50 MANITOWOC    3.9%  4.3%   47      24 WOOD          6.1%  6.1%    26

Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development