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On March 30th, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary February 2022 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties and the 35 cities with populations greater than 25,000 residents. St. Croix County’s February rate was estimated at 3.5%, which is higher than the final rate of 3.3% for January and 2.2% for December. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 5.1%.

DWD said preliminary unemployment rates increased from January to February in 70 of the 72 counties. Rates declined in all 72 counties year-over-year. The current rates range from 2.3% in Dane to 6.6% in Adams.

Preliminary unemployment rates from January to February decreased or stayed the same in 12 of Wisconsin’s 35 largest cities. Year-over-year the rates declined in all 35 cities. Rates ranged from 2.0% in Madison to 5.2% in Racine.

The five counties with the lowest unemployment rates in February include Dane (2.3%), Calumet (2.5%), Ozaukee (also at 2.5%), Sheboygan (2.6%), and Winnebago (also at 2.6%). Adams County had the highest rate in February at 6.6%, followed by Forest (6.5%), Burnett (also at 6.5%), Bayfield (also at 6.5%), and Menominee (6.4%).

St. Croix, Pierce, and Polk counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to St. Croix’s rate of 3.5%, February’s preliminary rate in Pierce was 3.8% and Polk’s rate was 5.2%.

St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the 15-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area. The February 2022 unemployment rate for the Twin Cities was estimated at 2.4%, which is lower than January’s final rate of 3.0% and the same as December’s final rate of 2.4%. The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 4.6% in February 2021.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in February was estimated at 2.9%, which is lower than January’s final rate of 3.0% and December’s final rate of 3.1%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 4.4%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota for February was estimated at 2.7%, which is lower than January’s final rate of 2.9% and December’s final rate of 3.0%. Minnesota’s seasonally-adjusted rate one year ago was 3.9%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. for February was estimated at 3.8%, which is lower than January’s final rate of 4.0% and December’s final rate of 3.9%. One year ago, the U.S. rate (seasonally adjusted) was estimated at 6.2%.

Wisconsin’s preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for February was estimated at 66.4% which is the same rate for both January and December. One year ago, Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate was also 66.5%. The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for the U.S. in February was estimated at 62.3%, which is higher than January’s rate of 62.2% and December’s rate of 61.9%. One year ago, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. was 61.5%.

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