DWD reports April data. This leaves Wisconsin’s macro totals as shown below.
figure 1: Wisconsin nonfarm payroll employment (dark blue), Philadelphia Fed early benchmark measure of nonfarm payrolls (pink), civilian employment (tan), linear interpolation of real wages and salaries, by state chain consumer price index ( Sky blue), GDP (red), and consistent index deflation (green), all in the log 2021M11=0.Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bank of East Asia, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia [1], [2]and the author's calculations.
The unemployment rate actually fell from 3.0% to 2.9%, while the estimated labor force rose (keep in mind issues related to series based on state-level household surveys).
Employment conditions currently exceed the (upwardly revised) February Economic Outlook forecast.
figure 2: Wisconsin Nonfarm Payrolls (bold black), November 2023 Wisconsin Economic Outlook Forecast (light green), February 24 (light blue), in 000s, sa Source: DWD, DoleWisconsin Economic Outlook (Various Issues).
Given the fairly strong job growth, it is surprising The view on the state of Wisconsin's economy is so bleak (although the view on personal finances is quite optimistic)).
