Wisconsin private sector employment increased 1.29 percent during the 12 months ending in June and the state ranked 29th in the country for job growth over the same period, according to data from the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The state ranked fifth in the Midwest for job growth over the same period behind Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. Illinois was seventh with job growth of 1.05 percent.
Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Florida had the strongest job growth in the country, growing 2.97 to 3.75 percent.
Louisiana, North Dakota, Kansas, Wyoming and Alaska made up the bottom five. Four of the five states lost jobs from the previous year, while Louisiana added just 121.
The ranking marks an improvement over the first quarter when Wisconsin ranked 31st and the fourth quarter of 2016 when the state was 33rd. Wisconsin hasn’t been higher than 27th for any twelve-month period over the last four-plus years.
Average weekly wages in Wisconsin were up $25 from the second quarter of 2016 to $869, a 2.96 percent increase that ranked 22nd in the country. The state was sixth in the Midwest on wage growth.
Two-thirds of the 32,141 jobs Wisconsin added were in service providing industries, including an increase of 2.7 percent in leisure and hospitality and a 1.9 percent increase in education and health services.
Goods-producing industries added 10,779 jobs, led by a 4.7 percent increase in construction and a 4.5 percent increase in natural resources and mining.
The manufacturing sector added 3,771 jobs, an increase of 0.8 percent. Â BizTimes reported last week that while the state is adding manufacturing jobs, the metro Milwaukee region has not been keeping pace.
Wisconsin was ranked 33rd in the country for manufacturing job growth. Metro Milwaukee lost 1,019 manufacturing jobs, a decline of 0.85 percent that was the third worst among regions with at least 75,000 jobs in the industry.
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