casaalmare / Depositphotos.com
Manitowoc County is following the rest of the state, with unemployment rising slowly in January.
In a monthly report from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Manitowoc County’s unemployment rate was up slightly, about 3.6% in January 2026, compared to 3.3% in January last year.
Those numbers are also up from December 2025, when unemployment was around 3%.
Calumet County also went up slightly from 2.5% in 2025 to 2.8% in 2026, while Kewaunee County went from 3.7% in January last year to 4% in January this year.
Sheboygan County’s unemployment rates went up as well, with 2.7% unemployment last year compared to 3.1% in January this year.
Brown, Outagamie, and Door Counties also showed slight increases, with Door County seeing the largest change in our area, rising from 4.7% in January last year to 5.2% this January.
While the unemployment rates in area counties have increased, seven counties have seen decreases.
Wisconsin’s average unemployment rate is around 3.3%.
