Working Wisconsin

Jobs at a Glance

62,500

Jobs Lost

In May 2022, Wisconsin had 2.1% fewer jobs than before the COVID-19 crisis hit.

2.9%

Unemployment

In May 2022, unemployment rose just slightly to 2.9%, staying close to the February 2020 level (3.0%).

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Updated June 22, 2022

12,500

Leisure/Hospitality Jobs Lost

This sector – restaurants, hotels, and more – has been among the hardest hit; employment is down 4.3%.

Black-white Disparities

Before the COVID-19 crisis, Black-white disparities in Wisconsin were among the worst in the nation. COWS documented these disparities in our 2019 report, Race in the Heartland. As COVID-19 has widened Black-white gaps nationally, Wisconsin’s racial divide, already pronounced, is likely growing as well. The response to the crisis and the recovery must focus on racial justice.

Read ‘Race in the Heartland’

Infant Mortality

Black babies are 3x more likely to die than white babies. The mortality rate for Black babies is the highest in the nation.

Child Poverty

One of every three Black children live in poverty, a rate that is 3.5 times higher than that of white children.

Bachelors Degrees

Whites more than twice as likely as Black Wisconsinites to hold BAs. This is the highest racial disparity in the country.

Incarceration

Black Wisconsinsites are more than 11 times more likely to be incarcerated than are their white neighbors.

Employment

85 percent of prime age whites are employed, compared to 61 percent of Black people of the same age.

Income

The median African American household annual income, $29,000, is a bit less than half the white level.

Home Ownership

More than 70 percent of white families own their homes. At the same time, just 27 percent of Black families do.

Voter Participation

In the 2016 election, 74 percent of eligible white voters showed up to the polls. Just 47 percent of eligible Black voters did.

Working Wisconsin is a project of COWS, a national think-and-do tank that promotes “high road” solutions to social problems. We present the workers’ perspective on the economy in Wisconsin.