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Wisconsin leads the nation in wage growth, but there’s nuance in the numbers

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Wisconsin leads the nation in wage growth, but there’s nuance in the numbers






The average hourly wage in Wisconsin was $33.48 in June. A year earlier, it was $30.93. The year-over-year increase of 8.2% was the second largest jump of any state in the country, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It wasn’t just a one-month occurrence either. Average the increases for the first half of the year and Wisconsin ranks first; the state ranks second when averaging the past three months.

“There’s still just the undercurrent of we don’t have enough folks and the way to get them is money still matters,” said Jim Morgan, vice president of business development and workforce strategies at Waukesha-based employer association MRA.

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By the numbers, the job market is still tight. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was 2.9% in June. It’s been around historic lows, ranging between 2.7% and 3.4%, since late 2021. The state’s total labor force in June was around 3.14 million people, up just 0.7% from where it was prior to the pandemic.

At the same time, the job and labor market in Wisconsin has cooled some since the Great Resignation period in 2021 and 2022.

The number of people quitting their jobs each month in Wisconsin reached as high as 91,000 in April 2022. This past April, there were 75,000 quits. Job openings have fallen, too, from a high of 268,000 in November 2022 to 172,000 as of April, the most recent data available.

Lori Malett, president of Milwaukee-based Hatch Staffing Services, said wage growth has tempered. A few years ago, employers were regularly offering double digit wage increases to entice candidates to change jobs, but now that figure is more likely around 6.5% to 8%.

She did say employers have trended toward giving larger increases to employees staying in their role, partially due to inflation and increases in the cost of living. If those increases were around 2.5% or 3% in the past, now they are coming in closer to 5.5%, Mallet said.

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Even with strong wage gains on average for Wisconsin, Mallet said there is a mismatch between what employers are offering and what candidates want.

“So many job seekers or candidates in the market, they’re still thinking in their mind they should be getting those double digit increases to make a move,” Mallet said.

To counteract that mismatch, Mallet said Hatch is often talking with candidates early in the process about their understanding of the market and expectations for a wage increase.

“We have it at that initial phone screen. We’re not even at the interview phase,” Mallet said. “And then we’re already starting to say, ‘OK, you know what? That’s not the market we’re in and if moving jobs right now is ultimately just to get a huge increase in salary, this is not going to be a good fit for you because we know our clients aren’t going to budge.’”

In 2022 and early 2023, Hatch’s clients had so much demand they were willing to go to great lengths to find new employees.

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“Well, demand is fairly light right now and most employers can get by a little bit longer without than what they could a year ago,” Mallet said.

Ryan Festerling, chief executive officer of Brookfield-based QPS Employment Group, echoed the sentiment that wage growth had tapered off. He said management and human resource teams were at “code red” to keep hiring as the economy emerged from the pandemic.

“Now that they’ve had some time to breathe, they know that if they continue to create a great culture, they don’t have to keep throwing money at it.”

Economic uncertainty is also translating to the candidate side as well.

“The average candidate is asking more questions about the stability of the organization, their ability to sustain a downward trend,” Festerling said, noting candidates are looking for other jobs when they are unsatisfied in their role, “but they are being very cautious about actually jumping ship.”

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Wisconsin’s wage gains aren’t quite as strong when looking at weekly wages, where the average in June was $1,111.54, up 8.2% from a year earlier and the seventh largest increase in the country. The average increase for the year is 6.9%, good enough for third in the country.

However, wage gains in the state have not been evenly distributed by industry or across geography.

For the second quarter, four metro areas – led by Eau Claire at 18% – outpaced the average hourly wage increase statewide of 7.8%. Sheboygan, Oshkosh-Neenah and Appleton were the others.

The state’s two largest metro areas, Milwaukee and Madison, saw average increases of 2.1% and 1.3%, respectively, with Racine and Green Bay essentially flat.

By industry, only the private education and health sector, which averaged a 16.1% year-over-year increase, is outpacing the overall private sector.

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The financial activities sector is just behind the state average at 7.3% and leisure and hospitality averaged a 6.7% increase. Manufacturing increased 5.1% on average and construction was up 4.2%.

Within manufacturing, however, there is divergence in wage trends across workers. For production workers in Wisconsin, the average increase in hourly wages for the past three months is 4.4%, suggesting non-production workers have seen increases much larger than the industry average.

Compounding matters for production workers, their average weekly hours have decreased year-over-year, dipping as low as 35.3 in January. For the second quarter, production workers averaged 38.6 hours per week, down from 39.6 a year ago, 40.2 in 2022 and 41.9 in 2021.

Slower hourly wage growth and declining hours have added up to a year-over-year decrease in average weekly wages for production workers in the first four months of the year. May saw an increase of 1.7% and June was up 6.2%. The average increase in weekly wages for the second quarter was 1.9%.

Industry

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June 2024
Average Wage

Average Increase in 2nd Quarter

Wage Growth
Since 2019

Total Private

$33.48

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7.8%

28.2%

Construction

$39.66

4.2%

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30.0%

Manufacturing

$32.36

5.1%

21.3%

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Trade, Transportation and Utilities

$30.28

6.6%

29.3%

Financial Activities

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$42.48

7.3%

29.7%

Professional and Business Services

$35.22

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-0.5%

17.7%

Education and Health Services

$35.07

16.1%

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30.6%

Leisure and Hospitality

$20.18

6.7%

39.7%

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Wisconsin

Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin

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Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin


Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

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RIGHT AFTER WORLD NEWS WITH DAVID MUIR AT 530. THANK YOU DIANA. SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE MOVING IN, BUT IT WILL NOT BE A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT. THAT’S GOOD NEWS, MARK. THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER IS VERY LOW. IT IS VERY GOOD BECAUSE NO, I WOULDN’T WANT TO HAVE A REPEAT OF LAST NIGHT. THANKFULLY, WE’RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT. WE DO HAVE SOME SHOWERS ROLLING IN. IT’S A ROUND OF EVENING SHOWERS, BUT A LOT OF THIS IS FALLING APART. I THINK IT’S MAINLY GOING TO BE A COUPLE OF SPRINKLES BY THE TIME IT GETS TO MILWAUKEE. RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY OVERNIGHT. A COUPLE OF STRONG STORMS POSSIBLE. YES. RAIN MOVES OUT BY EARLY SATURDAY. MOST OF SATURDAY IS DRY. IT GETS BREEZY. TEMPERATURES. NOT BAD THOUGH. WE’LL MAKE IT INTO THE MID 50S. ALL RIGHT. FOR THE REST OF TONIGHT YOUR SEVERE THREAT LEVEL ONE AGAIN. LAST NIGHT WE ARE LEVEL THREE ON THE SEVERE THREAT INDEX. WE’RE NOT THERE. ANY KIND OF THREAT WOULD BE HAIL. THAT’S THAT’S OUR ONLY WORRY. I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT TORNADOES. ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SO A LOW CHANCE OF SOME HAIL. ANY OF THE THREATS ARE VERY LOW. VERY LOW THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS THAT SHOULD STAY WAY SOUTH. VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY LOW THREAT OF TORNADOES. I’M ALWAYS SCARED TO PUT ZERO THREAT OF TORNADOES, BUT IT’S CLOSE TO ZERO FLOODING. WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT? WE ARE WATERLOGGED. AND SO IT’S NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT MUCH RAIN. WE COULD GET UP TO AN INCH OF RAIN AND THAT WOULD CAUSE SOME ISSUES. NOTICE HOW THIS CONTINUES TO FALL APART. IT’S A STEADY RAIN THOUGH IN WESTERN WAUKESHA COUNTY. IT’S STARTING TO MOVE INTO THE CITY OF WAUKESHA AND INTO PEWAUKEE AS WELL. THUNDERSTORMS BACK OUT TO THE WEST OF US. THE SEVERE THREAT REALLY, I THINK IS WELL, SOUTH. THAT’S WHERE THE WARMER AIR IS LOCATED. IT’S NOT HERE. SO AS WE HEAD THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT, THAT MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, WE BRING IN SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS, MAYBE A LITTLE SMALL HAIL IN THERE AS WELL. THE COLDER AIR STARTS WRAPPING BACK IN AS WE HEAD INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. MAYBE EVEN ENOUGH TO GET A PASSING FLURRY JUST IN TIME FOR EASTER MORNING. BUT THAT’S NOT GOING TO LAST LONG. EASTER IS OKAY. I WOULDN’T SAY IT’S GREAT, BUT IT’S ALL RIGHT. IT’S 49 DEGREES, A FEW SPRINKLES EARLY, EARLY, EARLY ON SATURDAY. IT’S GONE BY 8:00 AT THE LATEST. THE REST OF THE DAY IS FINE. HOW ABOUT EASTER? WELL, WE START OUT PRETTY CHILLY, 33 AT 7 A.M. IF YOU’RE GOING TO DO EASTER EGG HUNTS. ONE. IF IT’S OUTSIDE, YOU BETTER DRESS FOR IT AND ALSO BE READY FOR THE MUDDY BECAUSE IT IS GOING TO BE WET. WE’RE WET ALL OVER, BUT WE’RE GREENING THINGS UP PRETTY QUICKLY HERE, THANKS TO THE FACT THAT WE’VE HAD ALL THAT RAIN YESTERDAY. 1.8IN OF RAIN IN MILWAUKEE 39 RIGHT NOW IN ELKHART LAKE, 46 DEGREES IN DELAVAN, WHERE YOU’VE HAD A PASSING SHOWER, BUT THAT HAS MOVED ON. NOT EXACTLY SEEING ANYTHING WARM UNLESS YOU GO HERE 81 DEGREES DOWN IN SAINT LOUIS. YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE THE FRONT IS LOCATED. ALL RIGHT, EARLY SPRINKLES. A BREEZY DAY FOR TOMORROW. MOST OF THE DAY IS DRY, AND I DO THINK WE’LL SEE SOME SUNSHINE OFF. AND ON EASTER SUNDAY DRY, WHICH IS NICE. 49 IT’S KIND OF NICE BECAUSE MOST OF THE STRETCH AFTER WE GET THROUGH TONIGHT IS QUIET. MONDAY AND TUESDAY ARE QUIET. TUESDAY, OF COURSE, IS ELECTION DAY HIGH OF ONLY 38. SO DRESS WARMLY HEADING TO THE POLLS AND THEN WE WARM RIGHT BACK UP IN THE 50S. CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AS WE HEAD INTO THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. IT’S OKAY.

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Storms Friday night but a dry weekend ahead in SE Wisconsin

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

Updated: 6:30 PM CDT Apr 3, 2026

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More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

More storms are likely Friday night before our weather quiets down for Easter weekend in SE Wisconsin

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Has Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor been ‘pushing noncitizen voting’?

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Has Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Chris Taylor been ‘pushing noncitizen voting’?


No.

We found no evidence that liberal Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor has supported allowing noncitizens to vote.

Taylor and conservative state Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar are running in the April 7 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

A Lazar ad claimed Taylor is “pushing for noncitizen voting.” 

Lazar’s campaign cited:

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Taylor’s opposition, while a Democratic state lawmaker, to the Republican-backed 2011 state law requiring identification to vote.

Her introduction of a 2017 bill, which did not become law. It would have provided driver’s licenses to unauthorized residents, but the licenses would have been labeled: “Not valid for voting purposes.”

Taylor’s opinion, in a 2024 appeals court ruling, which said absentee ballots count even if voters’ witnesses fail to give election clerks their full address. Citizenship is required to vote in Wisconsin, but Wisconsin election officials generally do not verify citizenship when a person registers.

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This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/04/wisconsin-supreme-court-candidate-taylor-lazar-noncitizen-voting-election-campaign-ad/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://wisconsinwatch.org”>Wisconsin Watch</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/wisconsinwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/cropped-WCIJ_IconOnly_FullColor_RGB-1.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;quality=100&amp;ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>

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President of Wisconsin’s largest mosque detained by US immigration agents

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President of Wisconsin’s largest mosque detained by US immigration agents


The president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque was detained by federal immigration agents, drawing accusations from local officials and religious leaders that the arrest was motivated by his statements against Israel.

Salah Sarsour, a Palestinian-born legal permanent resident of the United States, was taken into custody by nearly a dozen US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Monday in Milwaukee after he left his home, according to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.

Supporters called for his immediate release on Thursday and his attorneys said he was detained on the grounds that he is a foreign policy threat. His attorneys say the claims have no merit.

Instead, they believe Sarsour, 53, was targeted for speaking out against Israel and for a conviction as a minor by Israeli military courts, which have faced scrutiny over allegations of limited due process and high conviction rates of Palestinians. Israel rejects those claims. The offenses included allegedly throwing rocks at Israeli officers, according to attorney Munjed Ahmad.

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“Our government should not be doing the bidding of a foreign government,” Ahmad said of Israel. “There’s no question in my mind is that this is to stifle the discourse on the Palestinian narrative.”

Attorneys said Sarsour, born in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has no criminal record in the US.

Sarsour’s attorneys have likened the case to that of Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia University activist who faces deportation because the federal government said he was a foreign policy threat.

An email message left on Thursday for ICE and the Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned.

Sarsour has been the president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, the largest Islamic organization in the state, for five years. His attorneys say he’s held a green card for years and lived in the Milwaukee area. His wife and four adult children are US citizens.

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His arrest prompted outcry from top elected officials, including Milwaukee’s mayor, Cavalier Johnson, who called it “an outrage”.

“He is a legal permanent resident. There is no substantive evidence he has done anything wrong,” Johnson said in a post on X. “This is another example of overreach and harm from the U.S. Immigration authorities.”

Sarsour is being held at county jail outside Indianapolis. His attorneys have filed a petition seeking his release.

“He is ready to fight tooth and nail to make sure that he’s not drug through the mud,” Ahmad said. “He wants to stay in this country.”



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