Record low jobless rate and keeping a close eye on wastewater

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·5 min read
Onesto, an Italian restaurant at 221 N. Broadway in Milwaukee's Third Ward, is a prime spot for a cozy winter dinner.

The Wisconsin jobless rate fell to a record low of 2.8% in December

  • Dennis Winters, chief economist for the Department of Workforce Development, said the continued low jobless rate was an indication of a very tight labor market. “Most everybody that wants a job is on the job,” Winters said. “It’s good for workers and we’re seeing that in wages being bid up. The other side of the sword is businesses are forced to be more competitive in their attempts to hire."

  • The labor force participation rate was 66.4% in December, 4.5 percentage points higher than the national rate. “We’ve got a workforce that's topping out in numbers, and as the economy grows and more people find jobs, the unemployment rate is going to stay low,” Winters said.

  • A persistent shortage of workers during the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the economic recovery for manufacturers and their suppliers. Some companies have said their business would grow 50% or more if they could find enough help. Many were struggling to fill jobs even before COVID-19.

Wisconsin experts await sign of omicron's decline in sewage data

  • Wastewater monitoring is finding that the omicron surge has crested in parts of the country and experts in Wisconsin are hopeful they'll see the same signs here soon.

  • Sandra McLellan, a microbiologist in UWM's School of Freshwater Sciences who works with the wastewater samples, has noted a slight decline in two or three recent batches from Milwaukee's Jones Island treatment plant. McLellan said she'd feel confident the data reflects a decline when it lasts two weeks, or about five rounds of samples, since it often fluctuates. "We're not really seeing that in a lot of plants around Wisconsin yet, but we do see some indications a few samples are lower. I'm hoping by next week, we'll see them continue to drop," McLellan said.

  • Wastewater can be a reliable early indicator of a rise in cases before traditional testing numbers begin to reflect it. And, on the other side of the peak, a decline in cases. And since everyone uses the bathroom, it's a good way to get a universal picture of the virus in the community instead of looking only at the people that seek out testing, experts say. "One of the things this pandemic has done is really opened our eyes to — 'hey, there is a way to monitor population health,'" McLellan said.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos disciplines GOP lawmaker who is the most vocal denier of 2020 election outcome

  • Assembly Speaker Robin Vos stripped Rep. Timothy Ramthun of Campbellsport of his only staffer after Ramthun falsely accused Vos of signing a deal with attorneys for former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to authorize ballot drop boxes, according to Vos's office.

  • The move underscores the tension between Vos and members of his caucus who do not believe Vos is doing enough to litigate the outcome of the 2020 election, despite the ongoing taxpayer-funded election review Vos authorized in 2021. It sparked a backlash from some within a contingent in the Wisconsin Republican base who believe Vos, who is a conservative Republican, is not conservative enough.

  • Assembly Republican leaders released a statement Thursday backing Vos and denouncing Ramthun's theories as misinformation. "The word 'misinformation' is too often used in today’s political discourse as a way to completely discount your opponent’s position. However, adhering to the true sense of the word, Rep. Ramthun and his staffer are spreading misinformation," the leaders said.

  • Again, recounts and court rulings found Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. Independent reviews have found no signs of widespread voter fraud.

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The Money

BRONZEVILLE: Milwaukee has lacked a high-profile cultural center showcasing Black visual artists but that's changing with a new Bronzeville development.

ONESTO: The ownership group behind Onesto, Smoke Shack and Blue Bat Kitchen is changing its name and it has plans for new restaurants.

The Fun Stuff

ALPINE VALLEY: The much-anticipated, oft-delayed Rage Against The Machine reunion tour is being bumped back yet again, with the band currently scheduled to play their first show in 11 years Alpine Valley in Wisconsin.

CONCERTS: Here are 5 top Milwaukee concerts to see in January.

The Games

PACKER PLAYOFF COVERAGE:

Today in Wisconsin History

On Jan. 21, 1950, polka bandleader Marty Zivko reopened the former Schwartz Ballroom in Hartford as Marty Zivko's Schwartz Ballroom, after buying the venue at an auction a month earlier. By 1962, the band-friendly venue would become Marty Zivko's Rock 'n' Roll Palace, for more than a decade one of the Milwaukee area's more storied music venues, with acts ranging from the Four Seasons and Gary Puckett and the Union Gap to Steppenwolf and Ted Nugent. (The venue, built in 1928, now operates as Chandelier Ballroom.) - Chris Foran

Today's Weather

A bit warmer. Sunny with a high of 21.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Record low jobless rate and keeping a close eye on wastewater