Wisconsin's unemployment rate climbed from 5.8 percent to 7.6 percent in January, according to data released Thursday by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
In comparison, January 2008 saw an unemployment rate of only 4.9 percent in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin's unemployment rate still remains better than the national average, which has grown to 8.5 percent.
Although the struggling economy has caused a loss of jobs throughout the country, lawmakers hope the economic-stimulus bill recently signed by President Obama will start to reverse the trend.
""The jump in Wisconsin's unemployment rate underscores the economic challenges we face as a nation and why we are taking strong action through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to put people to work,"" DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman said in a statement.
According to a White House statement, the stimulus plan will create or save 70,000 jobs in Wisconsin.
