More people are working in the Northwoods, even with rumors that the nation's economy is cooling.
The state unemployment numbers for March find Iron counties unemployment rate is the second highest at 9.7 percent. Vilas is sixth highest at 8.6 percent, Forest county at 8 percent, Oneida county at 7.3, Langlade at 6.9, with Price and Lincoln counties at 5.8 percent. Those figures are either slightly below last year's jobless numbers or up to two percentage points higher. The only exception is Price county which is up a half-percent from last year. There has been some layoffs there.
State Labor Market Economist Ryan White in Wausau says overall, more people are working....
".....labor force and employment numbers have remained virtually the same, while the number of unemployed has dropped by one-tenth of one percent. Overall, the unemployment rate has dropped seven-tenths of a percentage point. We have the same result when comparing March of this year to March of last year. Labor force employment is steady, while the unemployment rate has dropped seven-tenths of a percentage point...."
Dane county has the state's lowest rate at 3.6 percent. Economists say any number under four percent statistically shows near full employment.
