The Department of Workforce Development announced Thursday Wisconsin’s preliminary, seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate dropped to an all-time low of 2.9 percent in February 2018.
“Our unemployment rate just hit an all-time low of 2.9 percent,” said Governor Scott Walker in a statement also released Thursday. “Wisconsin is literally working as more people are employed today than ever before in our history. The previous low was 3.0 percent in May, June, and July of 1999 when Tommy Thompson was our Governor. Things were pretty good then, and they’re great now. This is a big win for Wisconsin!”
The February unemployment rate is 0.2 percent lower than January’s rate of 3.1 percent and 1.2 percentage points lower than the national unemployment rate of 4.1 percent, according to the Department of Workforce Development. There are 3,068,200 people employed in Wisconsin, with a total of 3,161,000 people considered actively employed or actively pursuing employment and part of the state’s labor force.
“Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate also increased from 68.5 percent in January to 68.6 percent in February 2018,” the department said.
The good economic news was praised by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), the state chamber of commerce.
“Looking to where Wisconsin was less than a decade ago shows the true difference between public policies that aim to hamper employers and ones that empower employers to drive our economy forward,” said Kurt Bauer, CEO of WMC. “Our state’s unemployment rate of 2.9 percent is a full 1.2 points lower than the national average, meaning other states should be looking to Wisconsin as an example of how to revitalize an economy.”
