May Employment Numbers Show Almost 75,000 Jobs Added

Department of Workforce Development chief economist Dennis Winters had a media briefing Thursday, on the latest monthly job numbers for May. Those contain some encouragement for the state’s economy. Wisconsin added 74,900 jobs last month as the unemployment rate hit 12 percent, a drop of 1.6 points from April. The Bureau of Labor Statistics survey to establish the rate was conducted May 11-15. That means it reflects two days of Evers administration’s extended stay-at-home order being lifted after the state Supreme Court overturned it May 13. Wisconsin’s  new unemployment rate was 1.3 percentage points lower than the national rate of 13.3 percent.