St. Croix County’s Unemployment Rate for July Drops

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary July 2012 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties on August 22nd. St. Croix County’s rate was estimated at 5.4% compared to the June rate of 5.8% and May’s rate of 4.9%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 6.1%.

DWD said 56 counties had rate declines or no change compared to a year ago. Between June and July, 67 counties had a decline or no change in their rates. Of Wisconsin’s 32 municipalities with a population of least 25,000 residents, 24 had declines in unemployment rates year over year. From June to July, all but two had either declines or no change in rates.

Only two counties, Dane and nearby Pierce, had lower unemployment rates than St. Croix in July. Dane had the lowest rate in the state at 5.3% (up from June’s rate of 5.2% and May’s rate of 4.7%), followed by Pierce, also at 5.3% (down from June’s rate of 5.6%, but higher than the May rate of 4.8%), then St. Croix at 5.4% (down from June’s rate of 5.8%, but higher than May’s rate of 4.9%), Trempealeau, at 5.5%, and Calumet at 5.6%. Menominee (20.2%) had July’s highest unemployment rate in the state, followed by Iron (10.9%), Lincoln (10.4%), Forest (9.8%), and Adams (9.5%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to July rates for St. Croix and Pierce (above), Dunn County’s rate in was 6.5% (down from June’s rate of 6.9%, but higher than May’s rate of 5.7%). Polk County’s rate in July was 8.0% compared to June’s rate of 8.2% but higher than May’s rate of 7.8%. All four counties in the Greater St. Croix Valley had lower unemployment rates year over year.

The 13-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area reported an unemployment rate of 5.9% in July, up from June’s rate of 5.8% and May’s rate of 5.2%. One year ago, the unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 7.0%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in July was estimated at 7.3%, up from June’s rate of 7.0% and May’s rate of 6.8%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 7.6%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota for July was estimated at 5.8%, up from the June and May rate of 5.6%. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted rate was 6.6% one year ago.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. in July was estimated at 8.3%, up slightly from the June and May rate of 8.2%. One year ago the U.S. rate was estimated at 9.1%.

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