Wisconsin breaks record employment number set in October

Dec. 20, 2024

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Tony Evers, together with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD), announced yesterday that Wisconsin achieved a new record high for employment during November 2024, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wisconsin’s labor force increased by 7,200 over the month and 14,700 over the year. The number of people employed increased by 6,000 over the month to a record-high 3,073,900 employed, surpassing the state’s previous record high in October 2024.

“We’ve been working to reduce barriers to work, expand access to job training and apprenticeship, and build the 21st-century workforce we need to compete in a 21st-century economy ,” said Gov. Evers. “Wisconsinites are hard workers by nature, and with seven months of record-high employment and more than 3,070,000 folks employed, it’s clear Wisconsinites are working hard across our state. This is great news for our state and our economy as we round out the Year of the Worker in 2024, and I look forward to continuing to make smart, robust investments to support working families and our state’s workforce in the new year so we can keep up this positive economic momentum into 2025 and beyond.”

Preliminary employment estimates for November 2024 showed Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained at 2.9 percent, which is 1.3 percentage points below the national unemployment rate of 4.2 percent. The state’s labor force participation rate increased to 65.8 percent in November while the national rate ticked down to 62.5 percent.|

“Wisconsin’s labor market set one record after another this year, and we will continue our efforts to support workers across the state in 2025,” said DWD Secretary Pechacek. “Thank you to all our stakeholders, including educators, business leaders, union representatives, and more, for building Wisconsin’s workforce and driving our economy forward.”

Place of Residence Data: Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in November, 1.3 percentage points below the national rate of 4.2 percent. Wisconsin’s labor force increased by 7,200 over the month and 14,700 over the year. The number of people employed increased by 6,000 over the month to a record-high 3,073,900 employed.Place of Work Data: Total non-farm jobs increased 300 over the month and 23,400 over the year to 3,043,500 jobs.
A full list of seasonally adjusted employment and unemployment statistics for November 2024 is available here.

A full list of not seasonally adjusted employment and unemployment statistics for November 2024 is available here.

Additional information about the data included in the release is available at Wisconomy.com.