Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in nearly two decades.
The 3.2 percent rate for the state is below than the national average of 4.1 percent. State representative Gary Tauchen (6th Assembly District) said despite the rate being at its lowest since 1999, it’s not all good news.
“One of the problems is that we have positions available where we have a skills gap,” Tauchen said. “So we recognized that and provided more money to the technical college programs.”
Tauchen pointed out that Foxconn will be working with universities and technical colleges to best identify what the future needs will be. Foxconn recently announced that they will be building a new factory in the state which could employ up to 13,000 people.
It’s a part of the bigger goal of keeping young people in Wisconsin.
“Instead of the ‘grain brain’ that we’ve had in the past…we’re gonna have the ‘brain gain’ where people from around the country and around the world will want to come to Wisconsin because this is the place where a lot of good things are happening and there is tremendous opportunity for people to build great careers in the state of Wisconsin,” Tauchen said.
