February 12, 2012

State lost 113,000 jobs in 2009

Unemployment was up in the first month of this years, and 2009 saw massive job losses. Unemployment in Wisconsin rose slightly in January to 8.7 percent, up two-tenths of a percent from December, according to state figures. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that the unemployment rate was 1.6 percentage points higher than a year ago, and that despite gaining 5,600 jobs in January, still finished the month with about 113,000 fewer jobs than a year ago. The national unemployment rate for January was 9.7 percent up two full points from January of 2009.