Number of jobs in Wisconsin reaches record high as unemployment hovers near record lows

Wisconsin’s labor force is continuing its post-pandemic expansion, the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows.

The total of number of nonfarm-related jobs across Wisconsin grew to more than 3 million as of June 2023.

That’s a record high and an increase of about 52,900 jobs compared to a year prior, according to an analysis of the preliminary numbers by Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development. Since May, the state added 6,900 nonfarm jobs, the estimate shows.

“Businesses continue to hire and those that do get laid off aren’t laid off for very long, so it’s pretty strong jobs market still here in Wisconsin,” Dennis Winters, DWD’s chief economist, said Thursday.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate kept hovering near record lows last month at 2.5 percent. Nationally, the unemployment rate was 3.6 percent.

A pattern of job gains continued across the country as well, with more than 209,000 jobs added nationwide in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated. The U.S. economy has been consistently adding jobs each month for the last two and a half years, although June’s nationwide figures represent a slower pace of growth.

BLS data on nonfarm jobs represents the total number of workers on the payroll at private-sector businesses and many government agencies. Someone working two jobs at once could show up twice in the data.