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

Friday, July 7th, 2023 -- 10:00 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.

Following the economic disruption of COVID-19, evident in the early 2020s, Clark County's unemployment rate returned to its standard seasonal patterns. The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rocketed up to 9.2% in April 2020 but was at 2.2% as of December 2022.

This is equal to the statewide average, also incredibly low by historical standards. Demographics are the root cause of these tight labor market conditions, creating a long-term trend that will impact Wisconsin's labor force for decades.

Therefore, it's vitally important that we focus on efforts to create local talent pipelines in partnership with the education system, attract talent to the area, retain the talent we have, and recruit underutilized talent pools like the justice-involved, people with disabilities, etc.

Clark County's labor force participation rate (LFPR) has been trending downward (with the occasional recessionary ups and downs) since 2000, the time when the oldest members of the baby boomer generation were in the late stages of their prime working years.

It leveled out after the great recession, but the overall long-term trend is still downward as the county ages. The LFPR in 2021 was 70.2%, up slightly from 2019, but it's likely to be a correction from COVID-19 impacts. It's more important to note that this LFPR is much lower than the peak of the last two decades, 73.6% in 2003. 

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