Wisconsin state unemployment rates fell in September compared to August, the Department of Workforce Development announced last week.
According to the DWD’s findings, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in September, down from 4.7 in August. The rate in September 2007 was one-tenth of a percentage point lower than this year’s figure.
“We are holding our own in these very challenging economic times at the national level,” DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman said in a statement. “Our focus remains one of strengthening our workforce, assisting job seekers and connecting them with employers.”
Dan Barroilhet, economist with the DWD, said the unemployment figures are a composite of data collected from several different sources. The DWD surveys Wisconsin residents about their employment status, examines historical data and looks at the number of unemployment insurance claims filed.
Barroilhet said the most notable figure in the report was that the Wisconsin numbers are lower than the national unemployment rate, which is at 6 percent.
“Right now we see the Wisconsin rate lower than the U.S. rate, which is kind of striking,” Barroilhet said. “The Wisconsin economy tends to be a little more seasonal than the U.S. economy. Our summer lows involved a bit more dipping than the U.S. rate; our winter highs then involve a sharper hike.”
From August to September, jobs in both leisure and hospitality industry and private sector both fell. The number of government jobs went up 23,400, mostly due to the start of the school year. Total state employment was up 17,600 from August but down 2,900 compared with one year ago.
Barroilhet said it is unclear how the recent economic problems will impact these numbers over the coming months.
“Someone in my position tends to look at it as a time of increased uncertainty and less predictable patterns and less confident forecasting,” Barroilhet said.
He added that DWD doesn’t spend a lot of time forecasting rates for coming months.
“It’s not that we do no forward-looking analysis; we do plenty of it, but we try to limit our predictions to areas where meaningful, useful predictions can be made,” Barroilhet said.
