Wisconsin Job Service - La Crosse County

La Crosse MSA *	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Labor Force	71,225	71,397	71,481	70,366	71,352	72,768
Employment	68,996	69,278	69,515	68,254	68,939	70,061
Unemployment	2,229	2,119	1,966	2,112	2,413	2,707
Unemployment Rate	3.1%	3.0%	2.8%	3.0%	3.4%	3.7%

	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Construction	2,567	2,625	2,767	3,000	2,900	2,900
Manufacturing	11,350	11,683	12,167	11,500	11,100	10,500
Transportation & Utilities	4,175	4,200	4,283	4,300	4,600	4,600
Wholesale Trade	4,175	4,200	4,283	4,300	4,600	4,600
Retail Trade	14,775	14,142	13,725	14,100	14,300	14,400
Finance, Insurance and Real Estate	2,533	2,408	2,475	2,800	3,100	3,300
Services	19,125	20,442	21,292	21,900	22,300	22,800
Government	9,667	9,858	9,975	10,200	10,700	10,700
Total Nonfarm Employment	67,183	68,442	69,917	71,200	72,400	72,800

Brief Overview

La Crosse County has a strong employment base in service, trade, and manufacturing industry sectors. Within the manufacturing industry, La Crosse's strength is in industrial machinery production. Industrial machinery employment accounts for 30 percent of manufacturing employment in the area, compared with 19 percent of manufacturing employment at the state level.

It is anticipated that the service industry will continue in its leadership position among growing industries. It is projected that in the year 2005, over three-fourths of all jobs in Western Wisconsin will be with service producing firms. One of the leading service industry sectors in the area is health services. The La Crosse Area provides health care services for a large geographic region.

If you have a question regarding the current labor market climate in La Crosse Wisconsin, please send e-mail to the La Crosse Labor Market Analyst or call (608) 785-9337.