As 2014 draws to a close, good news on the employment front.
The Department of Workforce Development reported last week that Wisconsin's overall unemployment rate had fallen to 5.2 percent, which is a post Great Recession low. While unemployment has dropped across the Northwoods, some of the state's highest jobless rates remain here.
Menominee county has the state's highest rate at 10.3 percent, Iron county is second at 9.4, Vilas is fourth at 8.3 percent, Forest and Oneida are tied for ninth highest at 7 percent, Langlade is at 6.4 percent, Lincoln at 5.6 percent and Price county at 4.4 percent.
Dennis Winters, Chief of the office of Economic Advisors from the Department of Workforce Development says things have improved...
"....we're seeing everything we were hoping to see, continuing on from 2014, by that I mean lower unemployment rates, higher employment rates. We're seeing things improve for all the right reasons...."
Winters says the recovery is across all the main economic sectors. He says when the Great Recession hit, the fall off of jobs was across the board, and he says the recovery is happening the same way, be it construction, manufacturing or service industries.
The report says all the northern counties saw unemployment levels drop at least one percentage point from last year, with Iron county nearly three points lower, and Lincoln two full points lower.
Several counties in southern and western Wisconsin have rates below four percent, including Pierce county at 2.7 percent.
