St. Croix County’s April Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.3%

Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Reginald J. Newson announced the preliminary April unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties on May 23rd. St. Croix County’s rate was estimated at 5.3% compared to the March rate of 6.2% and February’s rate of 6.8%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 6.4%.

“Compared to a year ago, unemployment rates are lower in every county, all metro areas and all major cities except Brookfield, where the rate was unchanged,” said Secretary Newson.

DWD said 71 counties had lower unemployment rates over the month. Compared to a year ago, all had lower rates. Of Wisconsin’s 32 municipalities with a population of least 25,000 residents, only Mount Pleasant had a rate increase over the month, and all but Brookfield had rate declines from a year ago.

Nine counties had lower unemployment rates than St. Croix in April. The lowest rate was in Dane (4.4%), followed by La Crosse (4.8%), Calumet (5.0%), Pepin (5.0%), and Pierce (5.1%). Menominee (15.9%) had the highest unemployment rate in the state, followed by Iron (12.8%), Vilas (11.3%), Bayfield (11.3%), and Sawyer (10.5%).

“Spring hiring has arrived and the unemployment rate in St. Croix dropped nearly a full percentage point from March to April,” said William Rubin, executive director of St. Croix Economic Development Corporation. “All ten counties in west central and northwest Wisconsin experienced rate declines over the month. There is always room for improvement and we’d expect the rates to consistently drop in the months ahead.”

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. Pierce County’s unemployment rate for April was 5.1% (down from March’s rate of 6.3% and February’s rate of 6.7%). Polk’s rate decreased from 9.3% in March to 8.1% in April (the February rate was 9.3%). Dunn County’s unemployment rate in April was 5.6%, compared to the March rate of 6.8% and February’s rate of 7.3%. One year ago, Dunn’s rate was 6.6%.

The 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area reported an unemployment rate of 5.1% in April compared to 6.1% in March and 6.2% in February. Both St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the federal definition of the 13-county Twin Cities metro area. One year ago, the unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 6.2%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in April was estimated at 6.7% which is lower than the March rate of 6.8% and February’s rate of 6.9%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 7.5%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota for April was estimated at 5.6% compared to 5.8% in March and 5.7% in February. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted rate was 6.6% one year ago.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. in April was estimated at 8.1% which is down from the March rate of 8.2% and February’s rate of 8.3%. One year ago the U.S. rate was estimated at 9.0%.

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