Department of Numbers

Madison, Wisconsin Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Madison fell 1.1 percentage points in September 2020 to 4.3%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 1.1 percentage points lower than the Wisconsin rate. The unemployment rate in Madison peaked in April 2020 at 11.6% and is now 7.3 percentage points lower. You can also compare Madison unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate September 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
National 7.9% -0.5 +4.4
Wisconsin 5.4% -0.9 +2.0
Madison 4.3% -1.1 +1.7
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with September 2020 data as October metro level unemployment data has not yet been released.

Unemployment Rate: Madison, Wisconsin, National

Madison, Wisconsin monthly unemployment rate chart

Note: Recessions shown in gray.

Madison, Wisconsin Unemployed

The number of people unemployed in Madison peaked in April 2020 at 42,401. There are now 25,262 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.

Unemployed Persons September 2020 Month/Month Year/Year
Madison 17,139 -2,913 +7,044

Number of Unemployed Persons

Madison, Wisconsin Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Wisconsin
Unemployment Rate		 Madison
Unemployment Rate		 Madison
Unemployed
October
2020		 6.9% 5.7% — —
September
2020		 7.9% 5.4% 4.3% 17,139
August
2020		 8.4% 6.3% 5.4% 20,052
July
2020		 10.2% 7.1% 6.1% 22,367
June
2020		 11.1% 8.6% 7.3% 27,229
May
2020		 13.3% 12.1% 10.0% 37,522
April
2020		 14.7% 13.6% 11.6% 42,401
March
2020		 4.4% 3.1% 2.4% 9,539
February
2020		 3.5% 3.5% 2.6% 10,062
January
2020		 3.6% 3.5% 2.6% 10,209
December
2019		 3.5% 3.5% 2.6% 10,130
November
2019		 3.5% 3.5% 2.6% 10,117

1. Metro area unemployment rates are now seasonally adjusted. The BLS has started publishing smoothed seasonally adjusted metropolitan area data which makes comparisons to state and national data more relevant than the unadjusted numbers. ↩

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