A drop in the Madison unemployment rate has sparked hope for economic experts and workforce development planners throughout the city following new results released Wednesday.
Madison’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4.9 percent through a gain of an estimated 1,900 jobs since December 2009, and the unemployment rate is down 1 percent from 2009, according to the new figures from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
John Dipko, spokesperson for the Department of Workforce Development, said Dane County produced better unemployment rates as compared to other counties.
In comparison to other counties in the state, Madison was among one of the eight counties to have an increase in jobs, while 15 counties had lower unemployment rates and eight more faced no change at all.
“Dane County’s rate was the lowest of all 72 counties in December and traditionally has ranked among the lowest among counties statewide,” Dipko said.
Laura Dresser, research director at the Center of Wisconsin Strategy, said the job increase is headed in the right direction, especially in comparison to Milwaukee’s economy.
When looking at job trends, Madison generally has the best possible job trends, and Milwaukee usually has the worst job trends. The divergence is clear, Dresser said.
Despite the increase, Dresser said in terms of the size of Madison, 1,900 gains in the labor market is small.
“The one thing I think will help us a little is that we have such a share of our jobs in manufacturing,” Dresser said. “Manufacturing is heating up a little bit, and so that might give us a little bounce on national numbers.”
Cynthia Jasper, professor of Consumer Science at UW-Madison, said the hope is this low unemployment rate will continue in the future.
She said a job gain of this size does not only produce a significant economic effect, but it also boosts the morale of the community.
“It has this psychological effect in terms of other people willing to hire and making everything feel more vibrant and bringing everything up a little bit,” Jasper said. “It is really important for the people around the community, the people that are hired and also for other companies.”
