April 2019 Unemployment
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St. Croix County’s April Unemployment Rate at 2.9%
On May 22nd, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary April 2019 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties and the 33 cities with populations greater than 25,000 residents. St. Croix County’s rate was estimated at 2.9%. For comparison, St. Croix’s final rate in March was 3.6% and February’s final rate was 3.9%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 3.1%.
DWD said preliminary unemployment rates for April declined or remained the same in 68 of the 72 counties when compared to April 2018. The rates ranged from 1.9% in Dane County to 7.0% in Menominee.
The April 2019 preliminary unemployment rates declined or stayed the same year-over-year in 31 of Wisconsin’s 33 largest municipalities. Rates ranged from 1.9% in Fitchburg to 4.1% in Racine.
The five counties with the lowest unemployment rate in April include Dane (1.9%) and Calumet Fond du Lac, Lafayette, and Sheboygan (all at 2.1%). Menominee County had the highest rate in April at 7.0%, followed by Iron (6.2%), Bayfield (5.9%), Forest (5.3%), and Sawyer (5.1%).
St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to St. Croix’s rate of 2.9%, April’s preliminary rate in Pierce was also estimated at 2.9%, followed by Dunn at 3.0% and Polk at 3.8%.
St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the 16-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area. The April 2019 unemployment rate for the Twin Cities was estimated at 2.8%, which is lower than March’s final rate of 3.6% and February’s final rate of 3.4%. The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 2.7% in April 2018.
For the fifteenth consecutive month, the preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin was at or below 3.0%. For April, the rate was estimated at 2.8%, lower than then final rate of 2.9% for both March and February. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 3.0%.
The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota in April was estimated at 3.3%, which is higher than March’s final rate of 3.2% and February’s final rate of 3.1%. Minnesota’s seasonally-adjusted rate one year ago was 3.0%.
The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. for April was estimated at 3.6%, which is lower than the final rate of 3.8% for both March and February. One year ago, the U.S. rate (seasonally adjusted) was estimated at 3.9%.
Wisconsin’s preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for April was estimated at 67.5%, which is the same as the final rates for both March and February. One year ago, Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate was 68.2%. The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for the U.S. in April was estimated at 62.8%, which is lower than March’s rate of 63.0% and February’s rate of 63.2 %. One year ago, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. was 62.8%.
April’s estimates are preliminary and are subject to revision within the next few weeks.



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