August 2013 Unemployment Rate

St. Croix County’s August Unemployment Rate is 4.0%

Fourth Straight Month with Lowest Rate in State; Nearby Pierce is Second at 4.2%

On September 25th, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary August 2013 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties. At 4.0%, St. Croix County’s rate is the lowest in the state for the fourth straight month. The August rate in St. Croix is lower than July’s rate of 4.3% and June’s rate of 4.6%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 4.9%.

DWD said rates decreased or remained the same in 71 of 72 counties between July and August. Only Bayfield County experienced a rate increase, going from 7.5% to 8.3%. Compared to August 2012, the rates declined in all but three counties, Bayfield, Buffalo, and Florence. Rates declined in all of Wisconsin’s 32 municipalities with a population of least 25,000 residents between July and August. Compared to one year ago, rates declined in all but two municipalities, Caledonia and Superior.

For the fourth consecutive month, Pierce County has the second-lowest rate in Wisconsin at 4.2%, followed by Dane (4.5%), Trempealeau (4.7%), and Calumet (4.8%). Menominee (16.7%) had the highest unemployment rate in August, followed by Iron (9.8%), Forest (8.6%), Bayfield (8.3%), and Adams (8.2%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to the August rates for St. Croix and Pierce (above), Dunn’s rate was 5.5%, (down from July’s final rate of 6.1%) and Polk’s rate was 6.2% (down from July’s rate of 6.9%). Year over year, all four counties had lower unemployment rates.

The 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area reported an unemployment rate of 4.7% in August (down from 4.9%). One year ago, the unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 5.6%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin for August was estimated at 6.7%, which is down from the June and July rate of 6.8%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 7.0%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota for August was estimated at 5.1%, which is down from June and July rate of 5.2%. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted rate one year ago was 5.7%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. in August was estimated at 7.3%, which is down from July’s rate of 7.4% and June’s rate of 7.6%. One year ago the U.S. rate was estimated at 8.1%.

August’s estimates are preliminary and are subject to revision within the next few weeks.