August Wisconsin Unemployment Report
Saturday, September 21st, 2013 -- 8:06 AM
Wisconsin's unemployment rate declined last month, although economists said the change did not represent an improvement in the state economy.The state's unemployment rate fell a notch to 6.7% in August from 6.8% in July, but the decline was mainly because several thousand unemployed Wisconsinites quit looking for work, which removed them from the tally of unemployed. U.S. statistics count individuals as unemployed only if they are actively looking for work.
"The unemployment rate in Wisconsin dropped for the wrong reason ? more workers leaving the labor market," said Abdur Chowdhury, a professor of economics at Marquette University.
Thursday's monthly jobs report, from the state Department of Workforce Development, also showed that Wisconsin added an estimated 7,300 private-sector jobs in August.
The data are subject to major revisions. The government every month conducts two separate employment surveys: It polls 3.5% of the state's employers to extrapolate the headcount on jobs while it bases the unemployment rate on a survey of 0.06% of the state's households.
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