Contact: Rose Lynch, (608) 266-6753
Madison – Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced that 68 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties experienced the lowest unemployment rate for March since 2001, and 69 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties had lower unemployment rates in March 2005 compared to March 2004. Two counties had higher rates than 2004 and one county was unchanged.
Sixty-six counties had lower unemployment rates in March 2005 than they had experienced in February 2005, while six had higher rates. March in Wisconsin is a month that usually has quite high unemployment rates, often the highest of the year, so improvement this widespread is certainly a good sign. The lowest unemployment rates were estimated for Dane County, at 3.4 percent, and Calumet County and Ozaukee County, both at 4.0 percent. The highest March 2005 unemployment rates were recorded in Door County at 8.6 percent, Sawyer County at 8.7 percent, Adams County at 9.0 percent, and Rusk County at 9.5 percent.
“In March Wisconsin’s labor market showed the greatest improvement in four years. Almost every county is registering a four year low in unemployment. This shows we are making progress and creating jobs, providing further evidence that, although challenges remain in some parts of the state, Wisconsin’s labor market continues to improve,” Secretary Gassman said.
The state saw a positive increase of 15,800 jobs between February and March of 2005, and 31,800 between March of 2004 and March of 2005. Wisconsin’s over-the-month increases included 8,200 in the metropolitan areas of the state, while 27,400 of the over-the-year increases were in the metropolitan areas of the state. The northeastern sector of the state saw the strongest job growth, while the western sector of the state was not as strong.
METRO AREAS
All 12 of Wisconsin’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas had lower unemployment rates in March 2005 than they had recorded for February 2005, all 12 had lower unemployment rates than they had one year ago, and 11 showed the lowest March rate since 2001. Several of the State’s metro areas showed very marked improvement, most notably the Appleton metro area, the Green Bay metro area, the Milwaukee metro area, and the Sheboygan metro area.
The lowest metropolitan statistical area unemployment rate was estimated for the three-county Madison metro area, at 3.7 percent. The two-county Appleton metro area at 4.8 percent, the Oshkosh/Neenah metro area at 4.7 percent, and the Sheboygan metro area at 4.4 percent also had quite low unemployment rates.
