MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.8% in January from 4% in December, nearly reaching levels not seen since before the coronavirus pandemic, the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday.
The state rate is below the national unemployment rate for January of 6.3%. A year ago, just as coronavirus cases were starting to appear in Wisconsin, the state unemployment rate was 3.3%.
Wisconsin added 7,000 private-sector jobs in January and is down 125,700 for the year.
COVID-19 cases spiked in Wisconsin in mid-November and have been gradually decreasing since then as more people are being vaccinated for the virus.
“The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged workers and businesses across Wisconsin and the nation,” Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development Secretary Amy Pechacek said in a statement.
While the unemployment rate was nearing pre-pandemic levels, Pechacek cautioned that “we also know impact of this pandemic is not over.”
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