Wisconsin employment hit new record in July, but job numbers fell » Urban Milwaukee

In Wisconsin, the number of jobs fell slightly in July while employment rose, according to forecasts released Thursday by the state Labor Department.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate remained nearly stable at 3% in July, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) reported. The projected number of people reporting employment reached a new high of 3.049 million.

The state’s projected number of jobs declined slightly in July, the department reported, but is still higher than the year-ago figure. The changes reported Thursday from June and the previous year were not considered statistically significant.

Both employment and jobs data are extrapolated from federal government surveys. Employment figures are calculated from a household survey that asks whether household members are working or actively looking for work. Jobs figures are calculated from a survey that asks employers for their payroll records.

The employment survey forecast a decline of 6,500 nonfarm jobs in July compared to June, but the total is still 25,700 higher than July 2023. In the private sector, jobs fell 8,500 from June, but were still 17,900 higher than a year ago.

“We know that the creation of new jobs and the economy as a whole are weakening somewhat,” said the DWD’s chief economist. Dennis Wintersin an online briefing for reporters on Thursday. “It was going like crazy before, now it’s slowly going downhill.”

Winters said some decline is to be expected amid a long period of generally positive news. He noted that another federal jobs report is due in early September, before the Federal Reserve Board meeting, when some forecasters expect interest rates to be cut in response to slowing economic growth.

“We’ll just continue to monitor it and see what develops. But I think … we’re on a pretty good path,” Winters said.

Winters said employers continue to report a “constant challenge in finding sufficient and high-quality workers,” but there remain signs of optimism. “They are trying to create new jobs where possible. They plan to invest more capital in the future.”

So far, he said, the restrictions on employers have not been due to declining consumer demand, but to the difficulty of finding employees.

Government reports: Employment figures fell slightly in July and reached a new record was originally published by the Wisconsin Examiner.