Wisconsin has a record-high number of jobs and median wage, but there are signs that the economy is softening and changes in federal policy could negatively affect workers in the coming years.
That’s according to a new report from the High Road Strategy Center, a labor-focused economic think tank at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On Friday, the organization released its annual State of Working Wisconsin report, which aims to provide insight into how workers are faring in the economy.
Wisconsin’s median wage hit a record high of $25.01 per hour in 2024, and the state reached a record of 3.06 million jobs in July, the report noted.
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But job growth so far in 2025 has been “weak,” averaging 1,400 jobs per month, the report said. The “economic softening” in Wisconsin mirrors what’s happening in the national economy, with many analysts “warning of a slow down or even a recession,” the report said.
“The story of 2025, for both Wisconsin and the United States, is that we see the growth really cooling off, the production of jobs is down,” said Laura Dresser, a labor economist and associate director of the High Road Strategy Center. “Unemployment rates are pretty stable … and there’s not a strong drift upwards in those yet. But there are troubling signs.”
Since 2021, Wisconsin has had more job openings than people on unemployment, according to state data. But the gap between the number of openings and the number of people looking for jobs has been narrowing.
In November 2022, there were more than three jobs open for every one person on unemployment. This April, the most recent month with available data, there were 1.26 open jobs for every one person on unemployment.
Wisconsin’s job growth since the COVID-19 pandemic has also been weaker than job growth nationally, the new report noted. Wisconsin has 2 percent more jobs than before the pandemic, while the United States has 5 percent more jobs.
“Wisconsin’s job growth has been robust, but less than half the national rate,” Dresser said.
At the same time, the report says federal policies around tariffs, taxes and the social safety net could make life more expensive for the working class.
For example, the report notes the Trump administration’s approach to international trade has brought “tariffs to levels not seen in nearly 100 years.” That could cost the average household $2,400 per year in tariff-induced price increases, according to estimates from the Yale Budget Lab.
“Tariffs are, of course, just a tax on imports,” Dresser said. “Definitionally, they’re a tax and consumers will pay that tax, and it will hit consumers’ pocketbooks.”
The report also says the recent budget reconciliation bill that was signed into law will deliver $67,000 in annual tax cuts to Wisconsin’s richest 1 percent and just $70 to the poorest one-fifth of Wisconsinites. The law also threatens to result in 54,000 Wisconsinites losing Medicaid coverage and 18,000 losing Affordable Care Act coverage, the report says, citing data from health policy nonprofit KFF.
“All of this is going on in this really dramatic departure in this federal budget, really delivering to billionaires at the cost of basic supports for life — health care, food, access to higher ed — that working people need,” Dresser said.
The Trump administration has argued that its tariffs are meant to revitalize American manufacturing, and it has championed policies in the tax bill aimed at reducing taxes on tips and overtime pay. In a presidential proclamation issued Thursday to mark Labor Day, President Donald Trump said the administration is “restoring the dignity of labor” and putting workers first.
“We are making it easier to buy American and hire American, breathing new life into our manufacturing cities, and securing fair trade deals that protect our jobs and reward our productivity,” the proclamation reads. “We are amassing hundreds of billions of dollars in tariff revenue and ensuring that every product of American craftsmanship is appreciated for its true value in overseas markets.”
President Donald Trump waves after an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo
The state report also raises concerns about the reliability of federal economic data following Trump’s firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer last month after a weak jobs report. The report said the firing “sends a signal that the president will only accept data that confirms his narrative.”
Sharon Block is executive director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy at Harvard Law School and former member of the National Labor Relations Board during the Obama administration. She called the firing “an unprecedented attack” on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“There’s just a million ways that people rely on those numbers to make good decisions about keeping the economy working for as many people as possible,” Block said. “I think a lot of credibility and a lot of confidence in those numbers have already been lost.”
Beyond federal policy, the state report also notes that despite a new record high for overall median wages in Wisconsin, disparities persist between races and genders.
The median wage for men was $27.05 in 2024 while the median wage for women was $22.98. White men and white women had the highest median wages at $28.54 and $23.66, respectively. Hispanic men and Hispanic women had the lowest median wages at $18.56 and $17.57, respectively.
Dresser said raising the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 would help address those disparities by raising the wage floor for all workers.
Likewise, Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization President Peter Rickman issued a statement about the report, calling for state lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle to raise the minimum wage.
“Democrats and Republicans alike tell us that they want to represent the working class,” Rickman stated. “Now is their time to show us by introducing and passing comprehensive living wage legislation.”
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