Economic growth in the metro Milwaukee area was a mixed bag in December as half of the available economic indicators tracked by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce showed growth while the other half declined.
On the positive side:
- Passenger traffic at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport was up 20.1% in December, the largest monthly year-over-year gain in 2023. For all of 2023 the airport’s passenger traffic was up 10.6% compared to 2022, serving more than 6 million passengers, the highest total since 2019.
- Mortgages recorded in Milwaukee County rose 1.3% in December to 1,651. That is the first year-over-year increase in mortgages recorded in Milwaukee County in 27 months. However, homes sold in the metro Milwaukee area fell 13.8% in December to 921.
- Nonfarm job growth in metro Milwaukee was low, growing only 0.2% year-over-year in December. For all of 2023, metro Milwaukee job growth was 0.4%. December job gains in metro Milwaukee were strongest in leisure and hospitality, up 6.9% year-over-year, and in construction, mining and natural resources, up 4.7% year-over-year.
On the negative side, the number of unemployed workers in the metro area rose 31.1% in December, year-over-year, to 23,600 and the area’s December unadjusted unemployment rate rose to 2.9%, up from 2.3% a year ago. However, new unemployment compensation claims fell 8.3% from a year ago.
“The current employment situation is marked by slow growth and rising unemployment leading to a lackluster aggregate trend,” said Bret Mayborne, MMAC vice president – economic research.
