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On August 26th, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary July 2020 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties and the 34 cities with populations greater than 25,000 residents. St. Croix County’s July rate was estimated at 7.7%, which is lower than the final rate of 9.8% in June and May’s final rate of 13.9%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 3.1%.

DWD said preliminary unemployment rates from June to July decreased in all 72 counties from June to July. The rates ranged from 4.1% in Lafayette to 18.3% in Menominee. 

Preliminary unemployment rates decreased in all of Wisconsin’s 34 largest municipalities from June to July and. Rates ranged from 5.5% in Fitchburg to 11.2% in Milwaukee.

The five counties with the lowest unemployment rates in July include Lafayette (4.1%), Taylor (4.2%), Clark (4.3%), Kewaunee (4.6%), and Richland. Menominee County had the highest rate in July at 18.3%, followed by Forest (15.1%), Iron (12.0%), Douglas (10.1%), and Milwaukee (9.9%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to St. Croix’s rate of 7.7%, July’s preliminary rate in Dunn is 5.9%, while Polk reported 6.7% and Pierce reported 7.4%.

St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the 15-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area. The July 2020 unemployment rate for the Twin Cities was estimated at 8.2%, which is lower than June’s final rate of 9.2% and May’s final rate of 10.1%. The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 3.1% in July 2019.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in July was estimated at 7.0%, which is lower than June’s final rate of 8.6% and May’s final rate of 12.1%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 3.4%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota in July was estimated at 7.7%, which is lower than June’s final rate of 8.6% and May’s final rate of 9.9%. Minnesota’s seasonally-adjusted rate one year ago was 3.2%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. for July was estimated at 10.2%, which is lower than the final rate of 11.1% for June and May’s final rate of 13.3%. One year ago, the U.S. rate (seasonally adjusted) was estimated at 3.7%.

Wisconsin’s preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for July was 64.9%, which is lower than June’s final rate of 65.8%, and May’s final rate of 66.6%. 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 July was estimated at 61.4%, which is lower than June’s final rate of 61.5% but higher than May’s final rate of 60.8%. One year ago, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. was 63.0%. 

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