St. Croix County’s Unemployment Rate for January Rises to 6.1%; State’s Second-Lowest

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary January 2013 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties on March 20th. St. Croix County’s rate was estimated at 6.1%, which is higher than December’s rate of 4.9% as well as the November rate 4.3%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 6.2%.

DWD said all 72 counties had rate increases between December and January. Year over year, 57 counties had rate increases, 11 had a rate decrease (including St. Croix), and four had no change. Of Wisconsin’s 32 municipalities with a population of least 25,000 residents, all had rate increases between December and January. Year over year, twenty-seven municipalities had an increase while five had no change.

In January only one county had a lower unemployment rate than St. Croix. Dane had the lowest rate in the state at 5.5% (up from December’s rate of 4.4% and November’s rate of 4.2%), followed by St. Croix, Ozaukee (6.2%), Calumet (6.3%), and La Crosse (also at 6.3%). Menominee (15.0%) had the highest unemployment rate in the state, followed by Bayfield (14.2%), Iron (13.6%), Door (13.4%), and Sawyer (13.1%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to the January rate for St. Croix (above), Pierce County’s rate was 6.3% (the state’s six-lowest); Dunn’s rate was 7.4% (up from 5.1%) and Polk’s rate was 9.4% (up from 7.8%). Year over year, St. Croix and Polk had lower unemployment rates. Dunn’s rate is higher than one year ago, and Pierce’s rate remained unchanged.  

The 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area reported an unemployment rate of 6.1%, up from December’s rate of 5.1%, and November’s rate of 5.0%. One year ago, the unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 5.9%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in January was estimated at 7.0%, compared to December’s final rate of 6.7%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 7.0%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota for January was estimated at 5.6%, compared to December’s rate of 5.5% and November’s rate of 5.7%. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted rate was 5.7% one year ago.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. in January was estimated at 7.9%, compared to the December 2012 rate of 7.8%. One year ago the U.S. rate was estimated at 8.3%.

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