Collecting unemployment data for the state of Wisconsin falls to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is a division of the Cabinet level Department of Labor, which is in turn a part of the executive branch of the federal Government of the United States of America. In addition to collecting WI unemployment and job data, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is also responsible for unemployment and job data for the entire country.
When the Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes reports which address WI unemployment, its reports are published in relation to both statewide figures and major metropolitan areas. When publishing WI unemployment data, there are 15 metropolitan areas which the Bureau of Labor Statistics focuses upon. However, only 10 of these metropolitan areas are located entirely in the state of Wisconsin, meaning that these reports cannot be used to fully understand the issue of WI unemployment. These other metropolitan areas affecting WI unemployment data are spread throughout the neighboring states.
The most recent six month period for which KS unemployment information from the Bureau of Labor statistics is available is for March 2010 through August 2010. Throughout this period, the unemployment rate has fallen or remained in each month. At the same time, the work force has declined in five of these six months, April through August. The number of individuals eligible to collect WI unemployment benefits also fell in five of these six months (March through July).