Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
October jobless numbers in northern Wisconsin held steady and continue at their lowest rates in about 15 years.
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development released the job rates for counties on Wednesday and Iron County continued with the second worst numbers in the state.
Iron County’s unemployment rate of 5.9 percent for October dropped a couple notches from the 5.7 percent rate in September. A year ago, the county stood at 6.6 percent.
Other area Wisconsin counties didn’t change much or stayed the same from September to October.
Ashland County was at 4.2 percent for both months, compared with 5 percent a year ago.
Vilas County went from 4.1 percent to 4.2 percent and neighboring Oneida County was at 3.8 percent for both months.
Price County showed the most movement, going from 3.4 percent in September to 3.9 percent in October.
Lafayette County stood at 2.6 percent in October, the best rate in the state, while Menominee County was the worst at 6.4 percent.
DWD Secretary Raymond Allen said jobless rates improved in 30 of the state’s biggest 32 cities.
He said 45 of 72 counties had better numbers in October.
Wisconsin added 28,400 non-farm jobs and 27,899 private sector jobs in the past year, according to Allen. Private sector wages grew by 4.4 percent in the past year, he added.
