State can be proud of falling jobless rate . . .

How low can it go?

The answer is: probably not much lower.

But for the moment, Wisconsin's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stands at 3.6%, the lowest level in a quarter-century and a clear sign of the state's surging economy.

Having successfully withstood the most recent recession and then a series of Federal Reserve Board efforts to dampen a flaring national economy, Wisconsin is an economic success story beyond anyone's wildest dreams maybe even those of Gov. Tommy G. Thompson.

Can it last? That is, is there a chance the rate might drop a bit lower, and perhaps match the 3.1% it hit in March 1970?

Not likely, says state labor economist August Cibarich. "When you are at the lowest point in 25 years, it's pretty hard to beat," he observed. So the state might even see a slight increase the next time the adjusted figures are compiled.

Nevertheless, April's report is a tremendous success story for a state once viewed as hostile toward business, or at least not as aggressive as others in developing a climate for investment and expansion.

On the downside, however, not everyone is sharing in the boom. That remains government's and the private sector's greatest challenge.

Unemployment in Milwaukee's central city is unacceptably high, though the Milwaukee area as a whole experienced a one-tenth of a percentage point drop (to 3.5%) from January.

On a similarly hopeful note, unemployment though not seasonally adjusted fell to 5% in the city proper in February, a drop of 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier.

Still, said Cibarich, many people are out of work. Worse yet, the frustrated have flat out stopped looking for jobs.

That is the reason we have despondency and hopelessness in our urban centers; that is, in part, the reason we have welfare dependency. Providing enough jobs and training remains the challenge.

Copyright 1995
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