Madison – Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman today announced local unemployment rates rose in February, reflecting historical trends. February unemployment rates are generally among the highest of the year as construction and manufacturing industry employment levels subside in a seasonal pattern.
While local unemployment rates inched upward, most of Wisconsin’s major urban areas posted job gains from a year ago. The Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) added 10,500 jobs over the past year. Jobs in the Appleton MSA increased by 340 from the February 2006 total. MSAs that had year-over-year job losses registered declines of one or two hundred jobs.
“The majority of Wisconsin’s metropolitan areas continue to add jobs from year to year,” Secretary Gassman said. “We continue to work to overcome the challenges facing some of our communities.”
Nine of the state’s twelve MSAs experienced higher rates in February than the previous month, while Janesville’s unemployment rate decreased, and both Eau Claire and La Crosse saw no change in rate from January to February. The February rates ranged from 4.2 percent in Madison to 6.8 percent in Racine. The Wisconsin rate for February was 5.9 percent.
Counties
Similar to the MSA data, most county level unemployment rates moved higher in February. Sixty-four of the seventy-two Wisconsin counties registered higher February 2007 unemployment rates compared to January, with six counties, Waupaca, Rock, Polk, Menominee, La Crosse, and Florence showing lower unemployment rates and two, Eau Claire and Chippewa having unchanged unemployment rates.
On a year-over-year comparison, ten counties had lower unemployment rates, nine counties were unchanged and fifty-three counties had higher unemployment rates. Wood, Waushara, Washburn, Oconto, Menominee, Langlade, Jackson, Florence, Chippewa, and Bayfield were the counties with lower February unemployment rates versus a year ago.
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Employment and Labor Force
Place of Residence Data
Unadjusted labor force estimates
Current Month Ago Year Ago
Total labor force 3,070,700 3,060,400 3,031,900
Employed 2,890,200 2,891,900 2,859,500
Unemployed 180,500 168,500 172,400
Wis. Unemployment Rate 5.9% 5.5% 5.7%
U.S. Unemployment Rate 4.9% 5.0% 5.1%
Adjusted labor force estimates
Current Month Ago Year Ago
Total labor force 3,094,600 3,086,900 3,054,700
Employed 2,940,300 2,935,100 2,908,400
Unemployed 154,300 151,800 146,300
Wis. Unemployment Rate 5.0% 4.9% 4.8%
U.S. Unemployment Rate 4.5% 4.6% 4.8%
Unadjusted Unemployment Rate, by WI Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)
MSA Current Month Ago Year Ago
Wisconsin 5.9 5.5 5.7
Appleton 5.7 5.2 5.5
Eau Claire 5.6 5.6 5.5
Fond du Lac 6.0 5.6 5.6
Green Bay 5.7 5.3 5.7
Janesville 6.3 6.8 5.9
La Crosse 5.0 5.0 4.9
Madison 4.2 3.9 4.0
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis 5.5 5.1 5.4
Oshkosh-Neenah 5.4 5.0 5.2
Racine 6.8 6.2 6.8
Sheboygan 5.0 4.5 4.7
Wausau 5.5 5.0 5.4
Place of Work Data
Nonfarm wage and salary estimates, by WI Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), in thousands
MSA Current Month Ago Year Ago
Wisconsin 2807.4 2802.9 2793.9
Appleton 118.2 118.7 114.8
Eau Claire 82.0 80.8 80.2
Fond du Lac 47.5 47.2 47.5
Green Bay 166.4 166.7 166.5
Janesville 68.2 68.3 68.3
La Crosse 72.9 72.9 71.6
Madison 339.7 341.0 338.4
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis 843.0 842.2 832.5
Oshkosh-Neenah 90.4 90.8 90.6
Racine 79.5 79.5 78.1
Sheboygan 62.6 62.9 62.7
Wausau 72.3 72.8 71.7
Source *Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Office of Economic Advisors
WISCONSIN COUNTIES
Unemployment Rates
February 2007
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
RANK COUNTY RATE LAST RATE LASTRANK YR AGO RATE RANK COUNTY RATE LAST RATE LAST RANK YR AGO RATE
4 ADAMS 9.2% 9.0% 3 9.1% 61 MARATHON 5.5% 5.0% 64 5.4%
30 ASHLAND 7.0% 6.8% 30 6.6% 14 MARINETTE 8.2% 7.5% 20 7.8%
20 BARRON 7.8% 7.7% 15 7.5% 11 MARQUETTE 8.4% 7.9% 12 7.9%
5 BAYFIELD 9.2% 8.7% 6 9.4% 22 MENOMINEE 7.6% 8.8% 4 10.2%
65 BROWN 5.3% 5.0% 62 5.3% 48 MILWAUKEE 6.1% 5.8% 41 6.1%
66 BUFFALO 5.0% 4.9% 65 4.9% 62 MONROE 5.4% 5.3% 54 5.2%
9 BURNETT 8.7% 7.9% 13 8.0% 18 OCONTO 8.0% 7.2% 25 8.2%
60 CALUMET 5.6% 5.3% 55 4.8% 8 ONEIDA 8.9% 7.8% 14 8.2%
29 CHIPPEWA 7.0% 7.0% 26 7.2% 59 OUTAGAMIE 5.7% 5.2% 59 5.7%
12 CLARK 8.4% 7.7% 17 7.8% 71 OZAUKEE 4.5% 3.8% 71 4.1%
38 COLUMBIA 6.5% 5.8% 45 6.0% 24 PEPIN 7.5% 7.4% 22 6.6%
42 CRAWFORD 6.3% 6.2% 34 6.3% 56 PIERCE 5.8% 5.5% 52 5.3%
72 DANE 3.8% 3.6% 72 3.7% 15 POLK 8.0% 8.3% 7 7.8%
45 DODGE 6.3% 5.6% 51 6.0% 57 PORTAGE 5.7% 5.4% 53 5.6%
13 DOOR 8.4% 7.5% 21 8.2% 47 PRICE 6.2% 5.8% 43 5.5%
43 DOUGLAS 6.3% 6.0% 38 6.1% 34 RACINE 6.8% 6.2% 35 6.8%
44 DUNN 6.3% 5.8% 44 6.0% 39 RICHLAND 6.5% 5.8% 46 5.5%
68 EAU CLAIRE 4.7% 4.7% 67 4.5% 41 ROCK 6.3% 6.8% 29 5.9%
28 FLORENCE 7.2% 8.1% 9 8.3% 2 RUSK 10.3% 9.2% 2 8.8%
51 FOND DU LAC 6.0% 5.6% 49 5.6% 40 SAUK 6.4% 5.7% 47 5.9%
6 FOREST 8.9% 8.3% 8 8.8% 3 SAWYER 9.3% 8.8% 5 9.0%
53 GRANT 5.9% 5.8% 40 5.6% 35 SHAWANO 6.6% 6.1% 37 6.3%
55 GREEN 5.9% 5.1% 61 5.9% 67 SHEBOYGAN 5.0% 4.5% 68 4.7%
21 GREEN LAKE 7.8% 7.0% 28 7.6% 33 ST. CROIX 6.8% 6.4% 33 6.5%
37 IOWA 6.6% 5.7% 48 6.2% 16 TAYLOR 8.0% 7.7% 16 7.4%
1 IRON 10.3% 10.1% 1 9.7% 49 TREMPEALEAU 6.1% 5.6% 50 5.8%
17 JACKSON 8.0% 7.6% 18 8.1% 32 VERNON 6.8% 6.5% 32 6.1%
50 JEFFERSON 6.1% 5.2% 60 5.5% 7 VILAS 8.9% 8.1% 11 8.6%
25 JUNEAU 7.5% 7.0% 27 7.4% 52 WALWORTH 6.0% 5.3% 57 5.4%
46 KENOSHA 6.2% 5.8% 42 5.8% 10 WASHBURN 8.4% 8.1% 10 8.7%
58 KEWAUNEE 5.7% 5.2% 58 5.4% 64 WASHINGTON 5.4% 4.5% 69 4.9%
69 LA CROSSE 4.6% 4.7% 66 4.6% 70 WAUKESHA 4.6% 4.2% 70 4.4%
54 LAFAYETTE 5.9% 5.3% 56 5.9% 31 WAUPACA 6.8% 7.2% 23 6.8%
23 LANGLADE 7.6% 7.5% 19 7.7% 26 WAUSHARA 7.3% 7.2% 24 7.4%
19 LINCOLN 8.0% 6.7% 31 7.2% 63 WINNEBAGO 5.4% 5.0% 63 5.2%
36 MANITOWOC 6.6% 6.0% 39 6.2% 27 WOOD 7.3% 6.2% 36 7.4%
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development – Bureau of Workforce Information
WISCONSIN CITIES
Unemployment Rates
February 2007
(Not Seasonally Adjusted)
RANK CITY RATE LAST LAST YR AGO
RATE RANK RATE
8 APPLETON CITY 6.9% 6.5% 9 7.1%
2 BELOIT CITY 8.5% 8.7% 2 8.2%
29 BROOKFIELD CITY 3.6% 3.5% 29 3.8%
22 EAU CLAIRE CITY 5.1% 5.1% 20 4.8%
7 FOND DU LAC CITY 7.0% 6.7% 7 6.4%
27 FRANKLIN CITY 4.1% 3.7% 28 4.2%
4 GREEN BAY CITY 7.9% 7.6% 4 7.9%
23 GREENFIELD CITY 4.8% 4.5% 23 5.0%
11 JANESVILLE CITY 6.6% 7.9% 3 6.0%
10 KENOSHA CITY 6.7% 6.4% 10 6.6%
20 LA CROSSE CITY 5.2% 5.5% 15 5.4%
30 MADISON CITY 3.5% 3.4% 30 3.4%
5 MANITOWOC CITY 7.4% 6.9% 6 7.2%
24 MENOMONEE FALLS VILLAGE 4.5% 3.9% 26 4.3%
6 MILWAUKEE CITY 7.3% 7.1% 5 7.5%
14 MOUNT PLEASANT VILLAGE 6.0% 5.6% 14 ———-
19 NEENAH CITY 5.5% 5.1% 21 5.2%
26 NEW BERLIN CITY 4.2% 4.0% 24 4.2%
25 OAK CREEK CITY 4.4% 4.0% 25 4.6%
16 OSHKOSH CITY 5.9% 5.5% 16 5.5%
1 RACINE CITY 10.0% 9.5% 1 10.3%
15 SHEBOYGAN CITY 6.0% 5.5% 17 5.7%
9 STEVENS POINT CITY 6.8% 6.2% 11 6.7%
21 SUN PRAIRIE CITY 5.2% 4.8% 22 4.6%
13 SUPERIOR CITY 6.0% 5.6% 13 5.6%
17 WAUKESHA CITY 5.8% 5.4% 18 5.6%
12 WAUSAU CITY 6.4% 6.0% 12 6.3%
28 WAUWATOSA CITY 4.0% 3.8% 27 4.1%
18 WEST ALLIS CITY 5.7% 5.2% 19 5.6%
3 WEST BEND CITY 8.0% 6.6% 8 7.2%
Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Bureau of Workforce Information
