Just seven of the 23 economic indicators tracked by the MMAC improved over the year, the group’s March economic trends report shows, marking a slowdown from February’s 11 positive indicators.
Bret Mayborne, vice president of economic research for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, says employment trends for March were mixed.
While jobs in the region rose 0.2% over the year to 855,100, fewer than half of the metro area’s major industries added jobs during the same period. The year-over-year jobs boost was unchanged from February’s 0.2% increase.
“Uncertainty in the present economic environment, particularly in tariff policy and future price inflation, likely have some businesses pausing a bit until the picture clears,” Mayborne said.
While four of Milwaukee’s 10 top sectors for employment added jobs over the year, five lost jobs and one saw no change. The biggest increase, 2.5%, was in education and health services while the “other services” had a 2.3% increase.
The largest decline was seen in manufacturing jobs, which fell 1.9% from March 2024. Other indicators for manufacturing declined over the year, including average weekly hours for production workers falling 4.8%. At the same time, average weekly earnings fell by 0.8% and average weekly earnings fell by 5.5%, MMAC says.
Meanwhile, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for Wisconsin’s largest metro area rose 0.2 percentage points over the year to 3.8% in March, below the national rate of 4.2%.
The report also shows existing home sales in the area dropped 3.7% over the year, while mortgages increased 12.7% to reach 1,912, sending a “mixed” signal for local housing trends, the group says.
At the same time, passenger traffic at the Mitchell International Airport continues to dip, showing a decline for the sixth month in a row in March. The passenger total for the month was 554,503, which is 8.1% lower than the same point last year.
See the report.
