Wisconsin job numbers hit a new record in June, latest employment statistics show

by Erik Gunn, Wisconsin Examiner
July 21, 2023

The number of Wisconsin jobs broke a new record in June, the state labor department reported Thursday, and unemployment remained close to its recent record low.

Employers reported having 6,900 more people working for them in June compared with May, and nearly 53,000 more than June 2022, according to the monthly report from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The total number of jobs that employers reported was more than 3 million — 3,006,900, DWD reported.

“Businesses continue to hire, and those [workers] that do get laid off aren’t laid off for very long, so it’s a pretty strong jobs market still here in Wisconsin,” said Dennis Winters, DWD chief economist, during an online press briefing.

The jobs numbers are projections derived from surveys of employers conducted by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate for June was 2.5%, up one-tenth of a point from May’s 2.4% rate and still in record territory, Winters said. The unemployment rate is projected based on monthly household surveys by the federal government.

Leisure and hospitality jobs accounted for the largest portion of job growth in June, according to DWD.

The labor force participation rate — the percentage of the population 16 or older that is working or seeking work — also rose in June, to 65.3%, Winters said. 

Thanks to members of the post-World War 2 baby boom “who live to work,” Winters said, the labor force participation rate is higher than it might be. “They are in the labor force at much higher rates than [older workers] have been historically.”

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