Seventy Wisconsin counties, 30 large municipalities, and the state’s 12 metro areas experienced a drop in their unemployment rates over the year as of January 2012, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary data that the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development released today.
“The across-the-board decline in local and metro unemployment rates over the year is encouraging, particularly in the absence of seasonally adjusted numbers to address the normal uptick in month-to-month unemployment during January every year,” DWD Secretary Reggie Newson said in a press release. “We know the 2012 hiring season is ramping up, and we encourage job seekers to move quickly and start pursuing opportunities today under Wisconsin’s improving business climate.”
All 12 metro areas had lower rates in January 2012 than January 2011 and higher rates than December 2011. Janesville had the highest rate at 9.4% and Madison had the lowest at 5.3%. The largest year-over-year decrease was in metro Sheboygan, which dropped to 7.2%, from 8.8% in January 2011.
In terms of job gains and losses in the 12 metropolitan service areas, Milwaukee led the way with a gain of 2,500 jobs. The picture in the remaining MSAs is as follows:
- Green Bay, +2,100
- Appleton, +1,300
- Eau Claire, +700
- Fond du Lac, +100
- Janesville, -100
- La Crosse, -800
- Madison, -6,000
- Oshkosh-Neenah, -100
- Racine, -100
- Sheboygan, +500
- Wausau, +300
Of 32 municipalities with at least 25,000 residents, all had rate increases over the month and 30 had decreases when compared to January 2011. Fitchburg and Mount Pleasant had increases over the year. Caledonia had the lowest January 2012 rate, 3.5%, while Beloit had the highest at 12.2%.
Seventy counties had lower rates in January 2012 than January 2011, while Bayfield and Iron counties experienced increases. Seventy-one counties had higher rates in January 2012 than December 2011, with Florence County seeing a slight drop. Dane County had the lowest rate at 4.9%, while Door County had the highest rate at 13.5%.
Newson encouraged job seekers and employers to use www.JobCenterofWisconsin.com, which had a record 151,000 jobs posted in 2011 and today has over 33,000 jobs posted.
