Report: Wisconsin’s 2.8% unemployment rate lowest in state’s 173-year history

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.8% in December 2021, the lowest in the state’s 173-year history, according to data released by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Thursday.

Just 86,200 of Wisconsin’s estimated 5.9 million residents are unemployed according to the DWD’s data, another record low for the state. The DWD cites an increase of 4,800 manufacturing jobs last month to the low unemployment rate. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate in November was 3.0%.

“In the state’s 173-year history, the unemployment rate has never been lower and Gov. [Tony] Evers has been hard at work doing what’s right for Wisconsin by creating jobs, filling openings, investing in small businesses, and attracting cutting edge companies,” Evers’ reelection campaign said in a statement Thursday. The campaign cited Evers’ “common sense leadership” as the main reason for the record-setting rate.

Since Evers took office in 2019, his office has given out grants to over 2,000 small businesses in the state through his Main Street Bounceback program. He also allocated $130 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to local job training programs and $60 million in workforce development programs in July.

“These programs will allow us to invest in regional solutions, help businesses find workers, and provide support to our friends and neighbors who are getting back on their feet,” Evers said in July.

Wisconsin’s 2.8% unemployment rate is lower than the nation’s 3.9% rate, the lowest the national unemployment rate has been since the start of the pandemic.

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