Jobless rate drops in Northeast Wisconsin

Unemployment rates dropped in all but one metro area in Northeast Wisconsin between April 2007 and April 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The April 2008 unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the Appleton metro area, 5.5 percent in the Fond du Lac metro area, 4.3 percent in the Green Bay metro area, 4 percent in the Oshkosh–Neenah metro area, and 3.8 percent in the Oshkosh metro area. The only metro area with an unemployment rate increase from April 2007 was Fond du Lac, which was up from 4.1 percent in April 2007. Fond du Lac was also the only area to have more unemployed people, an estimated 5,600, up from 2,300 in April 2007.

In contrast, Fond du Lac was the only area with less unemployment between March 2007 and March 2008, when the unemployment rate was 4.9 percent. March unemployment increased in Appleton (5.5 percent), Green Bay (5.6 percent) and Sheboygan (4.9 percent), and was the same in Oshkosh–Neenah (5.1 percent).

Statewide unemployment in April was 4.4 percent, down from 5.2 percent in April 2007.