Wisconsin Unemployment Rate Holds Steady At 4.1 Percent

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is holding steady, but employers are having difficulty filling positions in many different sectors, according to a state government economist.

Data the state Department of Workforce Development released Thursday shows the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in November, unchanged from October. That’s the lowest unemployment rate since February 2001.

DWD senior economist Jeff Sachse said the education and health services sector increased by about 2,500 workers in the past month, with hiring a bit sluggish on the healthcare side.

“It’s driven by concerns over a lack of availability of candidates, as well as uncertainty about a number of more broad policy issues related both to the election and changes to the Affordable Care Act,” Sachse said.

Healthcare providers are contending with issues related to Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates, Sachse said, adding that the state is seeing a mismatch in areas where there’s increasing demand for services, but a lack of individuals to fill positions, especially in rural Wisconsin.

Sachse also said some seasonal employment tends to dip slightly moving into November and December.

“Over the course of the past month, a lot of food processors, especially produce processors have been letting go of their seasonal pick-and-pack workforce mainly because of the fact that the growing season in most of our real heavy produce-growing areas started a little bit later than normal,” he said. “Both the harvest and fresh-pack season ended a little bit later than normal as well.”

The national unemployment rate in November was 4.6 percent, down from 4.9 percent in October.

DWD’s report showed Wisconsin lost 1,900 nonfarm jobs overall in November.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with original reporting from WPR.