Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Releases Employment Estimates

Friday, June 17th, 2022 -- 8:01 AM

The Department of Workforce Development released the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary employment estimates for the month of May 2022, which show the number of Wisconsinites employed at a historic high of 3,059,300.

The data also show an increase in Wisconsin's total labor force for the sixth consecutive month. Wisconsin's labor force participation rate was 66.5 percent in May, unchanged from April, and 4.2 percentage points higher than the national rate of 62.3 percent.

Wisconsin's unemployment rate in May was 2.9 percent, up slightly from April's historic low due to an increase in active participants in the labor force. Wisconsin total nonfarm jobs increased from April 2022 to May 2022 by 2,200 while private-sector jobs increased by 1,800 over the same period.

The strong economic recovery and robust job growth also has pushed weekly unemployment insurance claims to historic seasonal lows. For the week ending June 4, 2022, the number of weekly initial unemployment insurance claims totaled 3,288, down from 7,466 in the same week of 2021.

Continued unemployment insurance claims for the same week set a new low of 15,224, versus 55,697 a year ago.

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