Wisconsin’s unemployment rate increased slightly in April, reaching 3.3%, but initial unemployment claims in the state have trended lower over the past two months, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Department of Labor.
In March, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 3.2%. A year ago, the state’s unemployment rate was 2.9%. The year-over-year change represents 10,800 additional people considered unemployed in the state.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.2%.
Labor force participation in Wisconsin also remains higher than the national average. Wisconsin’s rate is 65.5% while the country is at 62.6%. Participation did decrease by a tenth in April.
Data on the unemployment and labor force participation rates comes from a survey of households. The BLS also collects data on the number of jobs based on a survey of employers.
The place of work survey for April shows Wisconsin losing 1,900 private sector jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Private service providing sectors lost 4,100 jobs during the month, led by a decrease of 2,200 in professional, scientific and technical services, a drop of 1,100 in retail trade and 1,100 fewer jobs in accommodation and food services.
Wholesale trade did add 1,500 jobs compared to March.
Also offsetting the decline was the addition of 2,400 manufacturing jobs. Durable goods manufacturing added 1,600 positions while nondurable goods added 800.
Data for both surveys was collected during the week of April 12.
While economic uncertainty tied to President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs kicked off in early April, data on initial unemployment claims do not point to significant changes in Wisconsin’s labor market.
In fact, the number of initial claims has been down year-over-year for every week since the beginning of March, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The weekly average number of initial claims for the four weeks ending May 10 was 3,122, down 9.7% from the same period in 2024.
