That’s according to the latest federal data released by the state Department of Workforce Development. The agency’s release shows Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remains below the national rate of 3.6 percent for April.
During a media briefing, DWD Chief Economist Dennis Winters said the state has set a new record for overall employment with 3,058,000 people employed, for an increase of 54,800 over the year.
Meanwhile, total nonfarm jobs in April remained “about 65,000 jobs short of the pre-COVID peak, but that’s about 98 percent of where we were pre-COVID,” Winters said yesterday. He explained the jobs figures and overall employment numbers differ as they come from two different surveys.
Winters also noted the state’s leisure and hospitality sector, which saw major job losses during the pandemic, added 1,600 jobs over the month and 31,500 jobs over the year.
“So good gains there, but they’re still down about 13,700 jobs from the peak, and that’s 95 percent of the previous peak,” he said.
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