Wisconsin’s private sector employment jumped by 11,500 in March, an increase of 0.4% compared to February, according to data released by the state Department of Workforce Development.
The state’s unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.2%, a full percentage point lower than the national rate of 4.2%.
Labor force participation declined by a tenth of a point to 65.6%. About 3 percentage points higher than the national rate of 62.5%.
The job gains in March came from a number of industries.
In goods producing sectors, construction led the way with the addition of 1,600 jobs with durable goods manufacturing adding 1,100. Nondurable goods manufacturing employment was essentially flat.
Service providing sectors added 9,000 jobs, led by the addition of 3,800 jobs in professional and business services and 3,000 jobs in accommodation and food services.
Health care and social assistance also added 1,000 jobs.
The unemployment and jobs data is based on surveys completed during the week of March 12.
Data on initial unemployment claims since that week also show signs of a strong labor market in Wisconsin, even amid broader uncertainty about tariffs.
The state has averaged 4,259 initial unemployment claims per week over the past four weeks, including 3,519 last week. In 2024, the state averaged 5,255 initial claims per week over the same period and 4,742 per week in 2023.
While the data do not show signs of a weakening economy, Dennis Winters, chief economist at the Department of Workforce Development, said employers are “in kind of a limbo.”
He noted many companies are reticent to lay off workers because they know it will be hard to get them back in the future, even as consumer sentiment about the economy has declined.
“Uncertainty is a good term. A lot of businesses are sitting and waiting,” Winters said on a briefing call with reporters. “We’re stuck kind of straddling the fence here because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
