Department of Numbers

Madison, Wisconsin Unemployment

The BLS reported that the unemployment rate for Madison fell 0.1 percentage points in November 2021 to 2.1%. For the same month, the metro unemployment rate was 0.9 percentage points lower than the Wisconsin rate. The unemployment rate in Madison peaked in April 2020 at 11.9% and is now 9.8 percentage points lower. You can also compare Madison unemployment with unemployment in other cities.

Unemployment Rate November 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
National 4.2% -0.4 -2.5
Wisconsin 3.0% -0.2 -1.4
Madison 2.1% -0.1 -1.4
Note: Metro level data is now seasonally adjusted.1 All comparisons are made with November 2021 data as December 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 44,666. There are now 36,392 fewer people unemployed in the metropolitan area.

Unemployed Persons November 2021 Month/Month Year/Year
Madison 8,274 -319 -5,349

Number of Unemployed Persons

Madison, Wisconsin Unemployment History

Date National
Unemployment Rate		 Wisconsin
Unemployment Rate		 Madison
Unemployment Rate		 Madison
Unemployed
December
2021		 3.9% — — —
November
2021		 4.2% 3.0% 2.1% 8,274
October
2021		 4.6% 3.2% 2.2% 8,593
September
2021		 4.7% 3.4% 2.2% 8,676
August
2021		 5.2% 3.9% 3.1% 12,352
July
2021		 5.4% 3.9% 3.1% 12,288
June
2021		 5.9% 3.9% 3.2% 12,377
May
2021		 5.8% 3.9% 3.2% 12,534
April
2021		 6.0% 3.9% 3.3% 12,780
March
2021		 6.0% 3.8% 3.4% 13,226
February
2021		 6.2% 3.8% 3.6% 14,064
January
2021		 6.4% 3.8% 4.0% 15,432

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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