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On September 23rd, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary August 2020 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties and the 34 cities with populations greater than 25,000 residents. St. Croix County’s August rate was estimated at 6.3%, which is lower than July’s final rate of 7.8% and June’s final rate of 9.8%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 3.0%.

DWD said preliminary unemployment rates from July to August decreased in 71 of the 72 counties. The rates ranged from 3.5% in Lafayette to 18.9% in Menominee.

Preliminary unemployment rates decreased in all of Wisconsin’s 34 largest municipalities from July to August. Rates ranged from 4.9% in Fitchburg to 10.1% in Milwaukee.

The five counties with the lowest unemployment rates in August include Lafayette (3.5%), Taylor (3.6%), Clark (3.7%), Kewaunee (3.8%), and Richland (4.1%). Menominee County had the highest rate in August at 18.9%, followed by Forest (14.2%), Iron (10.6%), Milwaukee (8.9%), and Jackson (also at 8.9%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to St. Croix’s rate of 6.3%, August’s preliminary rate in Dunn is 4.7%, while Polk reported 5.6% and Pierce reported 5.9%.

St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the 15-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area. The August 2020 unemployment rate for the Twin Cities was estimated at 7.9%, which is lower than July’s final rate of 8.2% and June’s final rate of 9.2%. The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 2.9% in August 2019.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in August was estimated at 6.2%, which is lower than July’s final rate of 7.1% and June’s final rate of 8.6%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 3.4%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota in August was estimated at 7.4%, which is lower than July’s final rate of 7.6% and June’s final rate of 7.6%. Minnesota’s seasonally-adjusted rate one year ago was 3.2%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. for August was estimated at 8.4%, which is lower than the final rate of 10.2% for July and June’s final rate of 11.1%. One year ago, the U.S. rate (seasonally adjusted) was estimated at 3.7%.

Wisconsin’s preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for August was 65.4%, which is higher than July’s final rate of 64.9% but lower than June’s final rate of 65.8%. One year ago, Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate was 67.0%. The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for the U.S. in August was estimated at 61.7%, which is higher than July’s final rate of 61.4% and June’s final rate of 61.5%. One year ago, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. was 63.2%.

August’s estimates are preliminary and are subject to revision within the next few weeks.