Job numbers this week showed unemployment in the state at under four percent.  The Department of Workforce Development released the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary employment estimates for the month of May.  Wisconsin added 3,600 non-farm and 3,400 private-sector jobs last month.  Wisconsin’s unemployment rate held at 3.9 percent for the second consecutive month. Bay Area Workforce Development Director Matt Valiquette says the numbers show an encouraging trend overall.

Valiquette adds that you need to look beyond the numbers to get a complete meaning.  He says the unemployment number does not take into account those currently out of the workforce who have voluntarily withdrawn.  This largely consists of caregivers who stayed home to care for their children during the school year.  Valiquette says employers are watching this dynamic closely.

Valiquette says there has never been a better time to rejoin the workforce. He encourages individuals seeking employment to contact job centers within the Bay Area Workforce Development Board.