The state’s jobless rate in April was at 4.4 percent, down from 4.6 in March.
April’s preliminary unemployment rate of 4.4 percent is the state’s lowest rate since April of 2008 — and lower than the national rate of 5.4 percent. That’s according to numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Manufacturing, construction, and professional services jobs are up.
Wisconsin gained 35,736 private-sector jobs in all of 2014, for a growth rate of 1.5 percent. However, the tally over the past four years is only slightly more than half of Governor Scott Walker’s 2010 campaign promise to create 250,000 jobs during his first term.
About 130,000 jobs were created during Walker’s first term — slightly more than half of his stated goal.
The new preliminary estimates for April from the BLS were released Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Development.