(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin unemployment rate remained 3.1% in August, below the 4.3% national rate.
But the labor force participation rate dropped to 64.8% in August while the national rate is 62.3%.
The total labor force in the state was down 7,100 for the month and 36,900 for the year.
“The Wisconsin labor market has cooled a bit along with the national economy but unemployment rates do remain historically low,” said Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Section Chief of the Office of Economic Advisors Scott Hodek.
The number of people employed in Wisconsin was down 6,000 for the month and 40,400 over the year.
Hodek said that Wisconsin is seeing a peak point where workers are aging out of the labor force and there are not as many workers in the state ready to replace them.
It’s an overall population issue that has estimates that the state population peaked at 5.96 million, will be at an estimated 5.89 million by 2030 and 5.84 million by 2040.
“The underlying labor challenge is demographic,” Hodek said. “it’s that Baby Boomers are aging out of the labor force. That’s kind of underpinning most of the changes overall with the economy and most of the things we are dealing with.”
