Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Press Release

BLS Data – Wisconsin January Employment Numbers Released; Unemployment Ticks Up to 3.3%

 

By - Apr 2nd, 2026 12:01 pm

MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) today announced the following information for Wisconsin’s labor market, reflecting January 2026 preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

  • Employment – There were 3,017,400 people employed in Wisconsin, up 800 over the month and down 18,600 over the year.
  • Labor Force – The state’s labor force participation rate increased to 64.3%, which is 1.8 percentage points above the national rate of 62.5.
  • Nonfarm Jobs – The total nonfarm jobs in the state were 3,032,500 an increase of 8,000 over December.
  • Unemployment – The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up over December to 3.3% which is 1.0 percentage points below the national unemployment rate of 4.3%.

View Labor Force PDF

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us