Wisconsin added 7,000 private sector jobs in June but the state’s unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 2.5%, according to the latest data released by the state Department of Workforce Development.
Total nonfarm payrolls were up by 6,900 to a seasonally-adjusted total of 3,006,900, a record high according to DWD.
Data on the number of jobs comes from a survey of businesses while the data used to calculate the unemployment rate comes from a survey of households.
The household survey did show Wisconsin’s labor force growing by 14,000 in June, enough to push the labor force participation rate up by 0.2 percentage points to 65.3%. While the labor force participation rate has been trending down in recent years, Wisconsin has now four straight months of increases. The rate is up 0.8 percentage points since February.
June’s job gains were primarily driven by the accommodation and food service sector, which added 5,100 jobs. Private service providing sectors overall added 8,100 jobs, including 1,400 in professional and business services and 1,000 in arts, entertainment and recreation.
Goods producing industries, on the other hand, lost 1,100 jobs, including a drop of 700 in durable goods manufacturing and 300 in construction.
