Madison, which had the seventh lowest rate in the nation in March among the 328 largest urban areas, is expected to improve that ranking when the April data is released by the U.S. Labor Department on or about June 3. Unemployment rates are one important measure of the relative strength of the labor market but tend to get the most attention. Similarly, the labor market is one of several methods which together help measure the relative strength of the economy. The state agency said it still was analyzing the civilian labor force, total employment, and nonfarm wage and salary job information for the urban areas. The following chart summarizes the urban area jobless rate performance.
All data shown above is preliminary.