Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development's County Profiles: Employment Data for Clark County

Thursday, July 6th, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has published updated workforce profiles for Wisconsin's 72 counties.

Each profile provides county-level information, analysis, and data to help employers, job seekers, economic developers, and other workforce partners make decisions related to the labor market economy. Every two years, DWD's Office of Economic Advisors compiles and distills local data on all 72 counties into individual county workforce profiles.

The 2023 profiles cover Wisconsin's historic bounce-back from the COVID-19 pandemic and feature:

• Updated U.S. Census data and changing demographics, including figures for major municipalities;
• Employment by 11 industry sectors, with payroll totals and percentages;
• Occupational patterns within industries;
• Unemployment and labor force participation rates;
• Barriers to employment;
• And average wages.

Clark County gained 240 jobs from 2020 to 2021, ranking its annual growth rate 32nd amongst the state's 72 counties. However, COVID-19 caused a very steep job loss in 2020, from which the county has yet to recover.

There were 45 fewer jobs in Clark County in 2021 versus 2019, but only seven counties in Wisconsin have surpassed their 2019 total. Manufacturing, the largest industry in the county by employment, and even more so by total payroll, gained 108 jobs from 2020 to 2021, and even surpassed its pre-pandemic level by a narrow margin.

Food manufacturing is the largest sub-sector with almost half the manufacturing jobs in the county. Machinery, fabricated metal, wood products and furniture manufacturing are also important sub-sectors of manufacturing employment in Clark.

Most of these sub-sectors have also surpassed their pre-pandemic levels. Trade, transportation, and utilities, the second largest super-sector in the county, gained 118 jobs from 2020 to 2021, and is up 102 jobs from its pre-pandemic levels.

Education and health, the third largest super-sector of employment, gained 10 jobs from 2020 to 2021. Health care is an important sector, especially in a county with an aging population. While education and health care tend to be somewhat recession-resistant, the pandemic impacts have differed from a normal recession.

In the health care sector, contrary to expectations, nurses and other medical staff were furloughed as hospitals put elective procedures on hold. And in the education sector, virtual classes and school closures due to COVID-19 impacted employment, especially amongst support staff.

Economic disruption and volatility driven by COVID-19 complicates efforts to separate structural economic shifts from short-term changes. The pandemic caused the shortest recession in United States history beginning in February 2020 and ending in April 2020.

However, impacts in Wisconsin were more evident from March to April, coinciding with the spread of the virus. Looking more closely at March 2020 and beyond, it's easy to see that this period stands in sharp contrast to the relative stability of the previous decade.

Private employment in Clark County declined by 435 jobs (-4.9%) in just one month, and although the subsequent recovery period began immediately in May, it has been inconsistent. The most rapid rebound occurred in the spring and early summer of 2020, but then recovery slowed.

Seasonality complicates month-to-month comparisons of jobs data – for example, construction employment is high in summer but drops as colder weather makes outdoor work impractical, and retail gains temporary jobs during the holiday season.

Comparing the same month in different years takes seasonality out of the equation. The latest data available is June 2022, so in comparison to June 2019, Clark County's total employment was still down 0.9%. Many counties in the state have yet to fully recover.

Versus historical recessions, this has been a very fast recovery. It is difficult to say what the future holds for Wisconsin's economy. The U.S. economy has been sending mixed signals; it does face some domestic and international headwinds as of year-end 2022, but there continues to be surprising gross domestic product, consumer spending, and job growth.

Inflation peaked at 9.1% last summer, its highest rate since the early 1980s. It is 6.5% as of December 2022 (12-month annualized, seasonally adjusted), which is still high but dropping. Initial jobless claims have risen nationally since the spring but remain low, despite employers' concerns about the economy.

This implies that finding workforce is still the bigger concern for employers. Regardless of economic conditions, tight labor force conditions are likely to continue.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.