Department of Workforce Development

For more information contact:
August Cibarich, 608/266-0522
 

Madison, Wis. -- Wisconsin’s seasonally-adjusted jobless rate declined to 3.2 per cent in mid-August, according to preliminary data released today by the State Department of Workforce Development.

The drop from July’s 3.4 per cent was the first in four months. It also resulted in the lowest-ever rate for the month for the state since seasonally-adjusted record-keeping began in 1960, matching the rate recorded in August 1965. The year-ago rate was 3.7 per cent.

Wisconsin’s rate is averaging 3.0 per cent for the year-to-date, which is the lowest for the period since data began being seasonally adjusted in 1960. The rate also generally has hovered in the 2.9 to 3.2 per cent range for most of the last eight months. April’s 2.4 per cent rate was the lowest on record for any month ever, seasonally adjusted.

"August also was the fifth month in a row that the state’s jobless rate set or matched record lows for the month," said Bruce Hagen, the agency’s Deputy Secretary.

He said the decline last month from July’s unemployment levels was due "almost entirely to the return of workers affected by the General Motors mid-summer strike, and strike-related GM plant closings. That work stoppage had accounted for about two- of the four-tenths of a percent rise in the rate from June’s 3.0 per level."

Hagen said the manufacturing sector showed seasonally-strong job gains over the month, even though economies in Asia and other parts of the world where many of the state’s manufacturing customers are located are in financial disarray. Any significant impact on Wisconsin employment levels thus far has been delayed, he added.

The manufacturing job count grew by 8,300 over the month to 630,800. Also showing seasonally-strong gains were trade, up 4,300 to 627,800, and services, up 1,900 to 714,800.

The other employment sectors reporting job losses were government, down 5,000 to 362,400 and finance, insurance and real estate, down 100 to 146,400 in August. Both declines were less than normal for the time of year, however, and thus showed relative improvement.

Most of the government decline was in local government and education related.

Smaller job gains, all better than normal for the season, were scored in construction, up 600 to 125,300, and transportation, up 700 to 121,800.

The state’s labor force, which had surpassed the 3 million mark before adjustment for the season for the first time ever in June and stayed above that level in July, contracted slightly. It fell to 2,998,100 in August. That was a larger than normal decline for the time of year in this measurement, which is composed of those working and looking for work. It still was up 35,100 over a year earlier.

"This small one-month decline probably just reflects a normal correction, given the large influx of jobseekers in recent months," said Hagen.

A decline in the number of people working over the month, to an adjusted 2,868,000, was about normal for August. The number of payroll jobs, however, rose by 10,500 and was up 58,400 over the year.

Among the state’s 11 largest urban areas, the rate declined in five areas, rose in three others, and remained unchanged in three.

Declines were recorded in Janesville-Beloit, which fell from a GM-strike-related 9.9 per cent in mid-July to 3.7 per cent in mid-August. Madison’s rate, which has been the lowest or nearly-lowest among all major urban areas in the U.S., declined from 1.6 to 1.5 per cent.

Other areas recording declines were Kenosha, down from 3.9 to 33 per cent, Racine, down from 4.2 to 3.9 per cent, and Sheboygan, down from 2.9 to 2.3 per cent.

Rates were up in Appleton-Oshkosh, from 2.4 to 2.6 per cent; Eau Claire, from 3.0 to 3.3 per cent; and La Crosse, from 2.5 to 2.7 per cent.

Unchanged over the month were Green Bay, at 2.6 per cent, and the Milwaukee-Waukesha and Wausau areas, each at 3.3 per cent.

The jobless rate for the Duluth-Superior area, which is released by the Minnesota Department of Economic Security, was an unadjusted 3.0 per cent in August. That state does not seasonally adjust data for other than the state rate.

All metropolitan areas experienced over the year declines in rates, ranging from a drop of 0.7 per cent in Green Bay and Racine to a 0.1 per cent decline in La Crosse.

Hagen said the state seasonally-adjusted rate has remained below the comparable U.S. rate for 132 consecutive months.