St. Croix County’s February unemployment rate at 4.8%

On March 25th, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) announced the preliminary February 2015 unemployment rates for Wisconsin’s 72 counties. St. Croix County’s rate was estimated at 4.8%. By comparison, St. Croix’s final rate for January was 4.6% and December’s final rate was 3.9%. One year ago, the county’s unemployment rate was estimated at 6.0%.

DWD said unemployment rates decreased in all 72 counties compared to February 2014. The rates ranged from 3.6% in Dane County to 11.2 % in Sawyer. Unemployment rates were unchanged or declined in 20 counties from January to February 2015.

The February 2015 preliminary unemployment rates decreased in all of Wisconsin’s 32 municipalities with population bases of least 25,000 residents compared to February 2014. February 2015 rates ranged from 3.4% in Madison and Fitchburg to 7.9% in Racine.

St. Croix’s rate was the twelfth-lowest in the state. Dane County had the lowest rate in at 3.6% followed by Ozaukee (also at 4.2%), La Crosse (4.4%), Waukesha (also 4.4%), and Calumet (4.5%). Sawyer County had the highest rate in February at 11.2%, followed by Door (11.1%), Bayfield (also at 11.1%), Menominee (11.0%), and Iron (10.7%).

St. Croix, Pierce, Polk, and Dunn counties comprise Wisconsin’s Greater St. Croix Valley. In addition to St. Croix referenced above, Pierce County’s preliminary rate in February was 4.8%, while Dunn’s rate was 5.9% and Polk’s was 6.7%. All four counties had lower unemployment rates compared to February 2014.

St. Croix and Pierce counties are included in the 16-county Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI metro area. The February 2015 unemployment rate for the Twin Cities was estimated at 4.0%, compared to the January 2015 rate of 4.1% and December’s rate of 3.3%. The unemployment rate in the Twin Cities was 4.9% in February 2014.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate for Wisconsin in February was estimated at 4.8%, which is lower than January’s final rate of 5.0% and December’s final rate of 5.2%. One year ago, the state’s seasonally adjusted rate was 5.8%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in Minnesota in February was estimated 3.7%, which is the same as January’s final rate but higher than December’s final rate of 3.6%. Minnesota’s seasonally adjusted rate one year ago was 4.4%.

The preliminary (seasonally adjusted) unemployment rate in the U.S. for January was estimated at 5.5%, which is lower than January’s final rate of 5.7% and December’s final rate of 5.6%. One year ago the U.S. rate was estimated at 6.7%.

February’s estimates are preliminary and are subject to revision within the next few weeks.