Northwoods jobless numbers continue to drop, and are nearing pre-Great Recession levels.
The August unemployment numbers found Iron county with the second highest rate in the state at 7 percent, Forest at 6.1 percent, Langlade 5.4, Vilas 4.5 percent, Lincoln and Oneida 4.3, and Price at 3.9 percent.
State Labor Market Economist Scott Hodek says while jobless numbers in the Northwoods remained stubbornly high as other portions of the state came out of the deep recession, this area is starting to catch up...
"...the rates regardless are quite low. If you look at Vilas county 4.5 percent, or Lincoln at 4.3 percent, those are pretty low rates...."
Hodek says more people are finding work...
"....the labor force was up one to two percent in all the counties in your listening area. The number employed was up, the number of unemployed down, so those folks joining the labor force ended up as employed...."
Initial unemployment claims are running at their lowest level since 1989, while continuing unemployment claims in Wisconsin are running the lowest in at least the past 30 years. Dane county had the state's lowest jobless rate at 2.8 percent, Menominee county the highest at 8.6 percent.
