The state Department of Workforce Development reports the state’s overall unemployment rate from November of 2018 remains at 3 percent — as it has for the last 10 months.
A news release from DWD indicates initial unemployment insurance claims ended 2017 at their lowest level in the last 30 years.
Mitchell Rupp, a regional economist for DWD’s North Central Region, said statistics released on Dec. 28, 2018, show some areas of the state are seeing record low unemployment rates.
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Green Bay reports an unemployment rate of 2.5 percent; Manitowoc reports 2.7 percent; and Neenah’s unemployment rate is at 2.3 percent — all well below the statewide average compared to November 2017.
The department said those cities, either “tied or achieved their lowest unemployment rate for any month on record.”
Rupp said it’s unrealistic to hope unemployment will ever reach zero, “because there is always going to be people in between work.”
He said the current rates have surpassed economists’ previous ideas of full employment, which he said was once believed to be 5 percent.
Rupp said the highest in-demand jobs are in manufacturing and health care, adding that hospitality and retail are also doing well.
The situation has changed dramatically since the Great Recession, Rupp said.
“In the past we had a lot of workers and not as many jobs,” he said. “So, in terms of that, things have sort of flipped around. So what is now happening is a lot more jobs and a lot of places hiring. It means businesses and companies are fighting for immediate workers.”
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