Oak Creek Sees Positive Signs on Economy, Employment Numbers

While the news nationally Friday was of slow job growth and a rising unemployment rate, the picture in Oak Creek is a little brighter.

The unemployment rate in Oak Creek fell slightly in April, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. 

Numbers from the DWD showed unemployment in the city at 6.4 percent, down from 6.7 percent in March. The decrease was even bigger compared to April 2010, when the unemployment rate was 7.5 percent.

Mayor Dick Bolender said the numbers are another sign of the economy slowly starting to improve locally. At City Hall, officials have been receiving a steady stream of inquiries from potential developers about commercial space, which Bolender said is another step in the right direction.

"You can’t expect (the economy) to just jump back in at the high gear," Bolender said.

"It’s gonna come slowly, but a slow, steady increase makes for a sound economy,"
rather than numbers constantly moving up and down, Bolender said.

The numbers in Oak Creek reflect what's happening in other municipalities with at least 25,000 people. All of those cities saw drops in unemployment rates. Meanwhile, Oak Creek’s neighbor to the south, Caledonia, had the lowest rate in the state at 3.5 percent.

Metro Milwaukee added 2,700 jobs in April, according to the DWD, continuing four months of job growth.

Far from over

The picture is gloomier nationally – few jobs were added and unemployment rose to 9.1 percent in May, according to Reuters. (Local numbers for May were not available)

And the news hasn’t been all good in Oak Creek, either. Two relatively large employers, and , announced they were closing Oak Creek facilities later this year, resulting in a combined 200 job losses.

But Bolender was upbeat, saying the economic climate, at least in Oak Creek, seems to have bottomed out and is on its way upward.

"A three-tenths percent move in the unemployment rate signals to me that people are going back to work and it’s moving in the right direction."