On June 23rd, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary May 2021 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties and the 34 cities with populations greater than 25,000 residents. St. Croix County’s May rate was estimated at 3.3%, which is lower than the final rate of 3.9% for April and the final rate of 4.5% for March. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 12.7%.

DWD said preliminary unemployment rates from April to May declined in all 72 counties and also declined in all 72 counties year-over-year. The rates ranged from 2.6% in Lafayette to 8.4% in Menominee.

Preliminary unemployment rates declined in all of Wisconsin’s 34 largest municipalities from April to May and declined or stayed the same in all of the largest municipalities, year-over-year. Rates ranged from 2.8% in Muskego to 7.0% in Milwaukee.

The five counties with the lowest unemployment rates in May include Lafayette (2.6%), Kewaunee (2.7%), Pepin (2.8%), Taylor (also at 2.8%), and Calumet (2.9%). Menominee County had the highest rate in May at 8.4%, followed by Forest (7.2%), Iron (6.3%), Adams (6.1%), and Milwaukee (5.8%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to St. Croix’s rate of 3.3%, May’s preliminary rate in Pierce was also 3.3%, followed by Dunn is at 3.6%, while Polk came in at 3.8%.

St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the 15-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area. The May 2021 unemployment rate for the Twin Cities was estimated at 3.8%, which is lower than the final rate of 4.1% for April and March’s final rate of 4.3%. The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 10.1% in May 2020.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in May was estimated at 3.9%, which is the same as April’s final rate, but higher than higher than the final rate of 3.8% for March. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 10.4%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota in May was estimated at 4.0%, which is lower than April’s final rate of 4.1% and March’s final rate of 4.2%. Minnesota’s seasonally-adjusted rate one year ago was 11.3%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. for May was estimated at 5.8%, which is lower than April’s final rate of 6.1% and March’s final rate of 6.0%. One year ago, the U.S. rate (seasonally adjusted) was estimated at 13.3%.

Wisconsin’s preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for May was estimated at 66.1%, which is higher than April’s final rate of 65.9% and March’s final rate of 65.7%. One year ago, Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate was 65.6%. The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) labor force participation rate for the U.S. in May was estimated at 61.6%, which is lower than April’s final rate of 61.7% but higher than March’s final rate of 61.5%. One year ago, the labor force participation rate in the U.S. was 60.8%.

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