(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s labor force has dropped by nearly 67,000 while the state’s unemployment rate has remained stead at 3.1%, according to numbers released Thursday afternoon for December.
It’s part of what Scott Hodek, Section Chief of the Office of Economic Advisors for the state’s Department of Workforce Development, called a “major driver” of what is going on in the state’s economy.
Wisconsin is losing population and is expected to continue to lose labor force as baby boomers age out of the workforce and the birth rate is not high enough to keep up.
“It’s the underlying challenge and it’s demographic,” Hodek said.
Thursday’s numbers mark the first time the unemployment rate data has caught up to a regular cycle since the federal shutdown last year, which prevented October numbers from fully being collected and delayed the release of September and November data.
Overall, there remained 3,021,200 individuals employed in Wisconsin while the state remained below the national 4.4% average unemployment rate.
Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate was at 64.2% in December, above the 62.4% national rate but below the 65.9% participation rate from December 2024.
