Milwaukee Jobs Report

Milwaukee has a very diverse and rich economy.  Therefore it is no surprise that the employment environment in the city is quite rich.  More than a few major corporations are based in Milwaukee- Harley Davidson, Johnson Controls, and Rockwell Automation. Milwaukee is also home to a thriving banking, brewing, and financial sector.  This city has done quite well by striving for economic diversity and balance over the past few decades and has weathered the recession relatively well as well, boasting an 8.5% unemployment rate.

Milwaukee is a great place for those in professional and managerial positions.  Almost 25% of the city’s work force consists of them and this number is growing.  Compared to many other Great Lake area cities, Milwaukee is faring quite well.  About 22% of Milwaukee’s workers are in manufacturing jobs.  This is quite high for metropolitan areas in the US, but it has kept Milwaukee economically diverse and powerful for over a century.  These manufacturing jobs are drying up, and represent one of the downsides to the region’s economy in this most recent recession.  The manufacturing sector will likely not be able to recover fully due to the huge losses in the US auto industry and the reorganization of many of the automakers.

Its government sector is relatively small but robust and the education sector has been doing quite well through the depths of the recession.  The death of the US auto industry hit Milwaukee much less hard than other surrounding cities, although Milwaukee has shown a decrease in auto industry related manufacturing and production jobs.

One of the bright sectors during the recession has been that of US brewers and the beer industry.  Milwaukee is known as one of the capitals of Midwest beer culture and this status helps the city retain jobs in the sectors as well as attract tourists to come and sample the local flavors.  More recently, investors have begun to take notice of the city, with its better than average unemployment rate and ability to dodge many of the bullets that the recession has shot at it.

Milwaukee is also a major commercial shipping hub.  It lies in an area rich with labor resources and manufacturing and production facilities.  Much of its economy is based on transportation and trade, both domestic and international.  Since it has access to both the eastern seaboard through the St. Lawrence Seaway as well as the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River, Milwaukee is in a very strategic location or shipping and transport.  Over 500 motor transport businesses operated out of the city and over three million tons of ship cargo passes through Milwaukee on any given year.

I would imagine that Milwaukee will provide the Midwest region wit some much needed transportation and shipping infrastructure during the recovery from the recession.  While its unemployment rate is about the same as the national average, Milwaukee possess much of the industrial muscle of the Midwest region and will likely become a bright spot in a post-recession economy.