After a dismal national unemployment report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday, some Wisconsin officials are reacting with similar gloom over the state’s future employment prospects.
The report, which detailed job losses for the month of November, recorded a total of 533,000 lost jobs for that month. In total, 1.9 million jobs have been lost nationally in 2008, the largest numerical loss since 1974.
With these additional job losses, the national unemployment rate rose to 6.9 percent for the month of November.
According to the BLS, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate currently stands at 5.1 percent as of October, well below the national average. Nevertheless, state officials are worried the ongoing recession could aggravate unemployment woes in the state.
Dennis Winters, chief of the Office of Economic Advisors at the Department of Workforce Development, said despite the relatively low unemployment numbers for Wisconsin, the state is by no means in the clear.
“We’re heading into rough times,” Winters said. “I can’t single out a specific industry that’s going to be hard hit because this recession is so broad.”
Winters continued, saying some areas of the state have and will be affected more by job losses than others.
“Janesville has been hit hard because of the problems with the General Motors plant,” he said. “In the north-central and northeastern parts of the state, the shutting down of paper mills has also created a lot of unemployment.”
GM has announced plans to close its Janesville plant, which will put thousands out of work in a city of about 60,000 people. The plant, which assembles sports utility vehicles, has already begun to lay off workers and will continue to phase out production in the next two years.
Janesville Councilman Russ Steeber said the plant’s closing could have dire consequences for his city’s residents.
“It would be extremely devastating to our economy,” Steeber said. “If the plant completely closes, we could lose four to six thousand jobs.”
Steeber remained somewhat optimistic, however, saying that he hopes the plant will not completely shut down. He added the city has been in talks with GM to keep at least some of the plant open or perhaps restructure it.
Steeber said in the event that the plant closes, Janesville should be in a good position to recover because of its strong and dynamic labor force. He said the city may have to adapt to working other kinds of manufacturing jobs to respond to the closure.
Unemployment rates vary widely across the state. Dane County, which traditionally enjoys low unemployment numbers according to Winters, currently has a 3.3 percent unemployment rate. In Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, unemployment is currently at 6.9 percent
Despite the dismal predictions, Wisconsin’s relative unemployment rate remains low. According to the BLS, Michigan and Rhode Island lead all states with 9.3 percent unemployment as of last month. South Dakota and Wyoming had the lowest rates, at 3.3 percent each.
