DWD: August jobs, unemployment numbers announced

CONTACT: John Dipko, Communications Director, 608-266-6753 On the Web: http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/dwd/news.htm

Wisconsin continues to add private sector jobs; unemployment rate holds steady

MADISON – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman announced today that Wisconsin continued to add private sector jobs in August.

“Wisconsin has added jobs in the private sector as some areas of the economy have shown improvement,” Secretary Gassman said. “We continue to see gains in areas such as health care and education, and manufacturing jobs have increased during eight of the nine past months. While we still have a long way to go, we are moving in the right direction.”

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the state added 1,900 private-sector jobs and saw a reduction of 2,600 jobs in government. The strongest private-sector gains occurred in professional and business services (2,300), education and health care (2,000) and in leisure and hospitality (1,400). Since January, Wisconsin has experienced a net gain of 28,300 private sector jobs.

Additionally, August was the second consecutive month to show an increase in total nonfarm jobs from a year ago. Manufacturing jobs in the durable goods category were 6,000 higher than they were a year ago.

Without seasonal adjustment, Wisconsin added 6,500 private sector jobs and saw the number of jobs in the government sector drop by 5,900.

Unemployment Rate

On a seasonally adjusted basis, Wisconsin’s preliminary unemployment rate for August was 7.9 percent, which matches the state’s final unemployment rate for July. The national rate increased to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent. Without seasonal adjustment, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent from 7.8 percent, as the U.S. rate dropped to 9.5 percent from 9.7 percent.

Through July 2010, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remains below that of other manufacturing-heavy Midwest states including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio.