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Wisconsin's August 2012 unemployment rate was published at 7.5%. This is a 0.2% increase over July and is the 4th consecutive month with an increase. There were about 229,000 unemployed workers in Wisconsin in August. This is an increase of approximately 4,800 over July 2012. The number of employed workers also went down by roughly 11,500 in August and the total workforce decreased by about 6,700. The combination of these statistics was the 0.2% increase in Wisconsin's unemployment rate in August 2012.

Wisconsin's August 2012 unemployment rate is nearly back to where it was only a year ago in August 2011 (7.6%). In August 2011 there were approximately 232,000 individuals unemployed in the WI. This number is only a little higher (by 2,500) than the current 2012 unemployment number. Also, the total number of employed people in the state is only about 6,600 more in August 2012 vs. 2011. During the past year the unemployment rate went down to a low of 6.8% in March 2012, before steadily going up again to the current 7.5%.

Though the State had high a higher unemployment rate in August, a lot of Wisconsin's business sectors enjoyed employment gains during the month. These included Construction, Leisure & Hospitality, Information, Professional & Business Services, Government, and Education & Health Services. Industries that had negative employment statistics in August were Manufacturing, Trade Transportation and Utilities, Other Services and Financial Activities. The biggest yearly was seen by Information ( 3.5%). The greatest decrease over the past year was in Construction (-5.1%). The industries with the biggest employment numbers for Wisconsin continues to be Trade Transportation and Utilities with about 508,400 employed in August.

The State of Wisconsin is not alone. A great number of neighboring states in the area also had higher rates in August 2012. The State of Minnesota's unemployment rate rose 0.1% in August to 5.9%. Illinois saw it's rate go up 0.2% to 9.1%. Also up were both the States of Iowa (5.5%) and Indiana (8.3%). Finally, the State of Michigan saw a0.4% rise up to 9.4% in August.

In approximately a month the employment statistics will be published for WI for September 2012. When they are available, we'll review the facts and see how WI measures up. Also remember that formerly released employment numbers may be modified at a later date.