Wisconsin added 14,400 private sector jobs in September, even as the state's labor force participation rate dropped by 0.3 percentage points for the second straight month.
The seasonally-adjusted data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics also showed Wisconsin’s unemployment rate increasing to 3.2%, a one-tenth increase from August.
Job gains in the private sector were led by the leisure and hospitality sector, which saw an increase of 6,600 jobs, primarily in arts, entertainment and recreation.
Health care and social assistance also added 2,200 jobs and durable goods manufacturing added 2,500 positions.
Data on private sector job gains comes from a survey of employers while data on unemployment and labor force participation rates comes from a survey of households.
The decline in Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate marked the first time the rate has fallen by 0.3 percentage points since 2009. It has declined by nearly a full point over the past four months and currently stands at 65.6%.
The 0.9-point decline is tied with Missouri for the largest drop in the country since May and amounts to more tan 35,000 fewer people in the state’s labor force. Outside of the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate has not been below 66% since 1977.
The average hourly wage in Wisconsin climbed to $30.30 in September, up 5.4% from the same time in 2021. The pace of wage growth has slowed since earlier in the year when it reached 7.7% in April and 8.1% in May. The September reading was the second straight month with a year-over-year increase of 5.4%.
