Dept. of Workforce Development: BLS data: Wisconsin January employment numbers released; unemployment ticks up to 3.3%

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

• Employment – There were 3,017,400 people employed in Wisconsin, up 800 over the month and down 18,600 over the year.
• Labor Force – The state’s labor force participation rate increased to 64.3%, which is 1.8 percentage points above the national rate of 62.5.
• Nonfarm Jobs – The total nonfarm jobs in the state were 3,032,500 an increase of 8,000 over December.
• Unemployment – The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate ticked up over December to 3.3% which is 1.0 percentage points below the national unemployment rate of 4.3%.