MADISON – The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) today announced the following information for Wisconsin’s labor market, reflecting February 2026 preliminary estimates from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

  • Employment – There were 3,019,300 people employed in Wisconsin, up 1,500 over the month and down 11,900 over the year.
  • Labor Force – The state’s labor force participation rate increased to 64.4% which is 2.4 percentage points above the national rate of 62.0%.
  • Nonfarm Jobs – The total nonfarm jobs in the state were 3,019,900, a decrease of 10,500 over last month.
  • Unemployment – The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up to 3.4%, which is 1.0 percentage points below the national unemployment rate of 4.4%