WI on road to recovery after losing 2,200 jobs in Feb.-March

The latest report from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy showed a loss of 2,200 Wisconsin jobs from February to March.

According to the Wisconsin Job Watch March 2010 update, "Wisconsin's unemployment rate increased to 8.8 percent in March 2010, nearly twice its pre-recession level (4.5 percent in December 2007)."

Despite the job downfalls, Communications Director for Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, John Dipko, sees an upward trend.

"We continue to hear that some Wisconsin companies are hiring again, slowly and cautiously adding new jobs," Dipko said. "Consumer confidence has increased as well."

According to Dipko, the latest national data continues to support the economic recovery: industrial production and retail sales continue to show gains.

"Taken together, these signs continue to show the economy is slowly but steadily improving," Dipko said. "We remain optimistic that Wisconsin's economy will continue to show improvement, opening up more employment opportunities."

Dipko said job fluctuations are not uncommon during the months of January, February and March due to the seasonality of Wisconsin's economy.

"Five metropolitan areas, including Madison, posted job gains on a seasonally adjusted basis in March from February," Dipko said. "And, without seasonal adjustment, the state posted a gain of 4,900 total jobs in March from February."

The report showed a gain of 3,500 jobs between the months of January and March in the construction sector of jobs in Wisconsin. The manufacturing sector gained 2,500 jobs in March alone, following similar increases in both January and February.

The report stated, "Three consecutive months of job growth is a positive sign, even though gains continue to be small."

Jaime Page-Stadler in Career Services has seen a significant increase in student reports of working, and the amount of internships posted through Career Services has also increased within the last year.

She has noticed that the industry with the most success in matching students to an internship or job is in sales. The two big areas in this industry where students are finding opportunities are in business to business sales and financial management.

"The one area that is struggling in finding opportunities is education," Stadler said. "Education majors are a group of graduates where the jobs are not as readily available especially in the state of Wisconsin and the Midwest area."

Stadler suggests for college students to seek employment the year of their graduation date and get two years of experience in their area of interest.

"Most employers or organizations are looking for people almost a year in advance," Stadler said. "They need that lead time for their recruiting process."