MONROE — The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) recently announced employment and unemployment statistics for metropolitan areas, major cities, and counties in Wisconsin for May 2025. There were 3,049,500 total nonfarm jobs in the state, according to May 2025 preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Preliminary employment estimates for May 2025 showed Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained the same at 3.3% over last month, which is 0.9 percentage points below the national unemployment rate of 4.2%. The state’s labor force participation rate ticked down to 65.3% in May while the national rate decreased slightly to 62.4%, marking Wisconsin’s participation rate 2.9 percentage points above the rest of the nation.

Lafayette County was back to the top spot with the lowest unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) in the state at 2.6%, up one tenth of a percent from April and up 0.4% from May 2024. Green County was tied for third lowest unemployment at 2.8%, up from 2.5% in April and 2.2% in May 2024. Calumet County was second at 2.7%, while Clark, Dane, Dodge and Iowa all joined Green County at 2.8%. Iron County had the highest unemployment rate in the state at 5.2%, though that is two full percentage points lower than April.

●  Place of Residence Data: Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 3.3% in May, 0.9 percentage points below the national rate of 4.2%. Wisconsin’s labor force decreased by 7,700 over the month and 9,400 over the year. The number of people employed decreased 8,400 over the month to 3,058,300 employed, down 20,300 over the year.

●  Place of Work Data: Total nonfarm jobs decreased 1,000 over the month and increased 14,600 over the year to 3,049,500 jobs.

The nonseasonally adjusted data for Wisconsin shows:

●  Metropolitan Statistical Areas: Preliminary May 2025 unemployment rates decreased in two metropolitan areas over the month: Eau Claire and Racine. Unemployment rates increased in the remaining 11 metropolitan areas over the month. Rates increased in all 13 of the metropolitan areas over the year.

●  Municipalities: Preliminary May 2025 unemployment rates decreased in three of Wisconsin’s 35 largest cities over the month. Rates increased in 30 cities over the month and stayed the same in two cities: Janesville and Kenosha. Rates increased in all 35 cities over the year.

●  Counties: Preliminary May 2025 unemployment rates decreased in 37 counties over the month. Rates increased in 28 counties over the month and stayed the same in seven counties. Unemployment rates decreased in two counties over the year and increased in the remaining 70 counties.

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