Wisconsin's unemployment rate has stabilized since December 2009 at 8.7 percent, according to new federal statistics released Wednesday.
The report, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, lists the unemployment rates for each state for January 2010 as well as changes since January 2009.
Wisconsin is one of 11 states that has seen no significant change in unemployment, and 31 states saw increased employment in recent reports, including Minnesota and Illinois.
""In these tough economic times, our top priority is to create and retain jobs and help workers get these jobs. We continue to see signs that the economy is stabilizing and moving forward, slowly but surely,"" said John Dipko, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
The national unemployment rate fell from 10 to 9.7 percent from December 2009 to February 2010. However, the overall decrease in employment over the course of 2009 was significant.
Forty-eight states, all but Vermont and South Dakota, saw significant job losses overall in 2009. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 14.3 percent as of January 2010.
Although the unemployment rate in Wisconsin leveled off between December and January, a report issued by the DWD says every metropolitan area in the state saw job losses between November and December 2009.
Wausau and Eau Claire saw the largest decreases in employment over that month, with losses of .9 and .8 percent, respectively. Janesville maintained the highest overall unemployment rate with 11 percent.
Madison had the lowest jobless rate of all of Wisconsin's metropolitan areas as of December 2009 with 5.8 percent, nearly 4.2 percent below the national average at that time.
—Ariel Shapiro
