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Jobless rates remain steady in Green County
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MONROE - From October to November, unemployment rates decreased in only eight of Wisconsin's 72 counties and remained the same in seven others.

Green, Dane and Rock counties are among those that remained steady.

Unemployment numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics were released Dec. 23 by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. The estimates include revisions for October 2014 and preliminary estimates for November 2014.

Green County unemployment in November remained unchanged from October at 3.8 percent.

Dane County remained unchanged at 3.2 percent, and Rock remained at 5.5 percent.

Lafayette County unemployment rose from 3.4 to 3.6 percent over the month, while Iowa's rate rose from 3.4 to 3.9 percent.

The county rates in November ranged from 2.7 percent in Pierce to 10.3 percent in Menominee.

Green, Lafayette, Dane, and Iowa counties were among the 13 Wisconsin counties with unemployment rates of 3.9 or less in November. Twenty-four counties had between 4 and 4.9 percent unemployment. Fifteen counties had between 5 and 5.9 percent unemployment.

Unemployment around the state is lower than last year. The rate decreased in 71 counties compared to November 2013 rates and was unchanged in Burnett County.

Green and Lafayette county rates were down from November 2013 by one full point. Iowa County was down 1.1 percentage points; Rock County was down by 1.6 points; and Dane, by 0.8 point. November rates last year ranged from 3.5 percent in Pierce to 12.9 percent in Iron, with only Pierce and St. Croix counties at 3.9 or less.



County labor forces

Workforces increased in 61 counties, or 85 percent of the counties, over the past year. Lafayette County increased its workforce by 3.62 percent, from 9,115 to 9,445, adding 330 employees since November 2013.

Green County's workforce increased 0.88 percent to 21,040, with 184 more employees from a year ago. Dane was up by 9,067 people or 2.95 percent, to 316,921. Rock County was up by 0.83 percent, or 673 more employees, to 81,741 employees, and Iowa was up by 2.56 percent, or 361 people, to 14,486 people.



MSA rates

Of the state's 12 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), Janesville remained at 5.5 percent from October to November, and Madison rose from 3.3 to 3.4 percent. A year ago, Janesville MSA was at 7.1 percent and Madison MSA was at 4.2 percent. MSA rates ranged from Madison's 3.4 percent to 6 percent in metro Racine. Racine MSA had the highest rate, 7.8 percent, a year ago.



City rates

Preliminary November rates decreased in 12 and remained the same in 11 of Wisconsin's 32 largest municipalities, compared to rates in October. November rates ranged from 2.7 percent in Caledonia to 8.4 percent in Racine.

Unemployment in the City of Janesville dropped to 5.9 percent in November, from 6 percent in October and from 7.9 percent a year ago. City of Madison's rate was at 3.2 percent, the same as in October and down from 4 percent in November 2013. Fitchburg had 3.8 percent unemployment, up from 3.7 percent in October and down from 4.7 percent a year ago.

The November rates decreased in all 32 municipalities compared to November 2013 rates.



State and Federal rates

Local unemployment rates are not seasonally adjusted.

Without seasonal adjustment, Wisconsin's November rate was 4.7 percent, up from 4.6 percent in October and down from 6.0 percent in November 2013. The U.S. rate for November was 5.5 percent, unchanged from October and down from 6.6 percent in November 2013.

The Wisconsin DWD reported BLS estimates shows the state's preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for November was 5.2 percent (down from 6.4 percent a year ago), which was a new post-recession low in Wisconsin, and the state gained 16,500 private sector jobs over the month, suggesting a full recovery of all private sector jobs lost during the recession. The average initial Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims for the first 50 weeks of 2014 dropped to the lowest point since 1999.

Wisconsin's agricultural exports for the first nine months of the year show a 17 percent increase compared to last year, ranking 12th among U.S. states.