Unemployment In Wisconsin Tied For An All Time Record Low
Considering everything that's been going on the last few years, the unemployment rate in Wisconsin is relatively low. In fact, it's tied for an all time record low rate.
According to the Wisconsin State Department of Workforce Development, the unemployment rate for February dropped to 2.9%. That number - along with its corresponding number of people in the workforce - represents a more-robust job market than even before the pandemic.
A lot of the growth is in hospitality and manufacturing. Economy analysts suggest that both of those job sectors are driving the workforce both locally and nationally. In an article in the Superior Telegram, Dennis Winters, the Chief Economist for the Wisconsin State Department of Workforce Development offers that the rise in hospitality and manufacturing "...tells us two things: That the economy is growing and services are being demanded and the leisure and hospitality industry is opening up".
At the same time that the unemployment rate in the state tied for the all time record low, it also performed better than the national rate:
"Wisconsin's workforce participation rate in February remained unchanged from January at 66.4%. That number shows the percentage of working age people in the state either working or actively looking for work. That's 4.1 percentage points higher than the national rate of 62.3%."
One other sign of job growth in the state: the number of part time employees (people working part time) has diminished. Again, Winters sees this as a positive sign for the state's economy, offering that "(w)ith higher wages in a lot of jobs there may not be necessity to work a second part time job".