Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped in August for the third month in a row. But the new un-adjusted rated of eight-point-four percent is still the highest for an August since 1983. Also, the state had 112-thousand fewer jobs than the year before. That’s a percentage loss of three-point-eight – a slightly larger loss than in July. Factories cut a net of almost 50-thousand jobs in Wisconsin since last August. Even so, the state’s jobless rate is one-point-two percent less than the national rate of nine-point-six percent. State Workforce Development secretary Roberta Gassman touted the lower unemployment and said there were signs elsewhere of an economic turnaround. Still, she said her agency was committed to helping those out of work while keeping the economy moving forward.
