Private sector employment up 5.3 percent over the year in Q2

Private sector employment in Wisconsin increased 5.3 percent over the 12-month period ending June 2021, according to the latest data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Based on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private sector employment in Wisconsin reached 2,470,486 in the second quarter of this year, with an increase of 124,034 jobs since the second quarter of 2020.

But the state’s year-over-year job growth lagged behind several other Midwest states, as Michigan saw an increase of 9.3 percent in private sector employment over the same period. Illinois and Minnesota had increases of 6.8 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

Wisconsin beat out Ohio, which saw 4.8 percent private sector job growth, and Iowa, which logged an increase of 4.4 percent.

Just three of Wisconsin’s 72 counties saw a year-over-year decline in private sector employment: Florence, with a decrease of 1.8 percent; Jackson, 1.6 percent; and Richland, 0.5 percent.

Menominee County, which has the lowest private sector employment total of any Wisconsin county with 167 jobs, saw the largest increase by percentage with a gain of 26.5 percent. Other than that, employment increases ranged from 12.5 percent in Bayfield County to 0.3 percent in Adams County.

See the latest BLS data here: https://data.bls.gov/maps/cew/US