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Bureau of Labor Statistics > Geographic Information > Midwest > Table

Midwest Economy - Labor Force Statistics

 
Civilian labor force in the Midwest, seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area

(Links provide news releases)		 Back
data		 Mar
2025		 Jan
2026		 Feb
2026		 Mar
2026		 Mar 2025 to
Mar 2026
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 170,641 (1)170,465 170,483 170,087 -554 -0.3

Midwest

 (r)35,932.8 35,821.8 35,807.3 35,761.9 (r)-170.9 (r)-0.5

Illinois

 (r)6,624.7 6,560.5 6,570.0 (p)6,570.9 (p)(r)-53.8 (p)(r)-0.8

Indiana

 (r)3,507.3 3,503.6 3,498.3 (p)3,493.1 (p)(r)-14.2 (p)(r)-0.4

Iowa

 (r)1,735.2 1,743.6 1,741.6 (p)1,738.9 (p)(r)3.7 (p)(r)0.2

Kansas

 (r)1,566.0 1,579.5 1,578.3 (p)1,574.0 (p)(r)8.0 (p)(r)0.5

Michigan

 (r)5,063.2 4,992.8 4,983.7 (p)4,969.5 (p)(r)-93.6 (p)(r)-1.8

Minnesota

 (r)3,166.0 3,177.8 3,169.2 (p)3,156.4 (p)(r)-9.6 (p)(r)-0.3

Missouri

 (r)3,161.4 3,177.9 3,177.1 (p)3,176.0 (p)(r)14.6 (p)(r)0.5

Nebraska

 (r)1,094.4 1,104.5 1,104.3 (p)1,103.7 (p)(r)9.3 (p)(r)0.9

North Dakota

 (r)429.1 434.9 435.6 (p)435.8 (p)(r)6.7 (p)(r)1.6

Ohio

 (r)5,966.7 5,932.4 5,929.7 (p)5,922.6 (p)(r)-44.0 (p)(r)-0.7

South Dakota

 (r)490.4 493.5 492.8 (p)491.8 (p)(r)1.5 (p)(r)0.3

Wisconsin

 (r)3,128.0 3,121.2 3,126.6 (p)3,129.3 (p)(r)1.2 (p)(r)0.0

Footnotes
(1) January 2026 estimates were revised to incorporate updated population controls. For more information, see www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Unemployed in the Midwest, seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area

(Links provide news releases)		 Back
data		 Mar
2025		 Jan
2026		 Feb
2026		 Mar
2026		 Mar 2025 to
Mar 2026
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 7,132 (1)7,368 7,571 7,239 107 1.5

Midwest

 (r)1,506.1 1,485.3 1,495.3 1,493.9 (r)-12.2 (r)-0.8

Illinois

 (r)305.6 318.7 328.4 (p)334.7 (p)(r)29.1 (p)(r)9.5

Indiana

 (r)130.4 118.4 115.5 (p)114.3 (p)(r)-16.1 (p)(r)-12.4

Iowa

 (r)61.8 59.1 58.7 (p)58.1 (p)(r)-3.6 (p)(r)-5.9

Kansas

 (r)59.0 61.4 62.0 (p)61.6 (p)(r)2.6 (p)(r)4.4

Michigan

 (r)267.2 251.7 251.3 (p)250.8 (p)(r)-16.4 (p)(r)-6.2

Minnesota

 (r)112.8 138.9 142.0 (p)142.9 (p)(r)30.2 (p)(r)26.8

Missouri

 (r)126.8 123.3 122.5 (p)122.3 (p)(r)-4.5 (p)(r)-3.5

Nebraska

 (r)32.0 33.5 33.9 (p)33.9 (p)(r)1.9 (p)(r)6.1

North Dakota

 (r)11.0 11.3 11.2 (p)11.0 (p)(r)-0.1 (p)(r)-0.5

Ohio

 (r)288.2 254.8 251.3 (p)243.5 (p)(r)-44.7 (p)(r)-15.5

South Dakota

 (r)9.8 11.0 11.1 (p)11.2 (p)(r)1.4 (p)(r)14.3

Wisconsin

 (r)101.1 103.4 107.3 (p)109.5 (p)(r)8.5 (p)(r)8.4

Footnotes
(1) January 2026 estimates were revised to incorporate updated population controls. For more information, see www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Unemployment rates in the Midwest, seasonally adjusted (in percent)
Area

(Links provide news releases)		 Back
data		 Mar
2025		 Jan
2026		 Feb
2026		 Mar
2026		 Net change
Mar 2025 to
Mar 2026

United States

 4.2 (1)4.3 4.4 4.3 0.1

Midwest

 (r)4.2 4.1 4.2 4.2 (r)0.0

Illinois

 (r)4.6 4.9 5.0 (p)5.1 (p)(r)0.5

Indiana

 (r)3.7 3.4 3.3 (p)3.3 (p)(r)-0.4

Iowa

 (r)3.6 3.4 3.4 (p)3.3 (p)(r)-0.3

Kansas

 (r)3.8 3.9 3.9 (p)3.9 (p)(r)0.1

Michigan

 (r)5.3 5.0 5.0 (p)5.0 (p)(r)-0.3

Minnesota

 (r)3.6 4.4 4.5 (p)4.5 (p)(r)0.9

Missouri

 (r)4.0 3.9 3.9 (p)3.9 (p)(r)-0.1

Nebraska

 (r)2.9 3.0 3.1 (p)3.1 (p)(r)0.2

North Dakota

 (r)2.6 2.6 2.6 (p)2.5 (p)(r)-0.1

Ohio

 (r)4.8 4.3 4.2 (p)4.1 (p)(r)-0.7

South Dakota

 (r)2.0 2.2 2.3 (p)2.3 (p)(r)0.3

Wisconsin

 (r)3.2 3.3 3.4 (p)3.5 (p)(r)0.3

Footnotes
(1) January 2026 estimates were revised to incorporate updated population controls. For more information, see www.bls.gov/cps/documentation.htm#pop.
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Unemployment rates in Midwest states by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), not seasonally adjusted (in percent)
Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)

(news release)
 Back
data		 Mar
2025		 Jan
2026		 Feb
2026		 Mar
2026		 Net change
Mar 2025 to
Mar 2026

Illinois

Bloomington

 3.3 4.4 (p)4.6    

Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

 4.0 3.8 (p)3.8    

Champaign-Urbana

 3.3 4.8 (p)4.8    

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

 5.3 5.3 (p)5.4    

Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg, IL(1)

 (r)4.9 5.2 5.4 (p)5.0 (p)(r)0.1

Elgin

 4.4 6.0 (p)5.9    

Lake County, IL(1)

 4.6 6.2 (p)6.2    

Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL

 4.6 5.4 (p)5.1    

Decatur

 5.4 6.7 (p)6.8    

Kankakee

 5.1 7.2 (p)7.0    

Peoria

 4.4 5.9 (p)5.8    

Rockford

 5.0 6.7 (p)6.7    

St Louis, MO-IL

 4.1 4.6 (p)4.4    

Springfield

 3.8 5.2 (p)5.4    

Indiana

Bloomington

 3.1 2.7 (p)3.5    

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN

 5.3 5.3 (p)5.4    

Lake County-Porter County-Jasper County(1)

 4.7 4.4 (p)5.0    

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

 4.9 4.2 (p)4.2    

Columbus

 3.3 3.0 (p)3.6    

Elkhart-Goshen

 3.6 2.9 (p)3.6    

Evansville, IN

 3.1 3.0 (p)3.5    

Fort Wayne

 3.2 3.8 (p)3.4    

Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood

 3.1 2.9 (p)3.5    

Kokomo

 5.7 4.8 (p)5.5    

Lafayette-West Lafayette

 3.2 3.2 (p)3.4    

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN

 4.6 4.2 (p)4.6    

Michigan City-LaPorte

 4.1 3.9 (p)4.5    

Muncie

 3.8 3.7 (p)4.3    

South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI

 4.1 3.7 (p)4.2    

Terre Haute

 3.6 3.4 (p)4.1    

Iowa

Ames

 2.9 3.2 (p)3.0    

Cedar Rapids

 3.9 3.8 (p)4.1    

Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL

 4.6 5.4 (p)5.1    

Des Moines-West Des Moines

 3.7 3.8 (p)3.5    

Dubuque

 4.0 4.2 (p)3.7    

Iowa City

 2.9 2.9 (p)2.9    

Omaha, NE-IA

 3.1 3.5 (p)3.5    

Sioux City, IA-NE-SD

 3.5 3.8 (p)3.7    

Waterloo-Cedar Falls

 4.1 4.2 (p)3.8    

Kansas

Kansas City, MO-KS

 4.2 4.1 (p)4.2    

Lawrence

 3.4 3.8 (p)3.9    

Manhattan

 3.7 4.0 (p)4.1    

Topeka

 3.9 4.5 (p)4.5    

St. Joseph, MO-KS

 4.3 4.2 (p)4.2    

Wichita

 4.0 4.6 (p)4.5    

Michigan

Ann Arbor

 4.7 4.3 (p)3.7    

Battle Creek

 6.2 5.8 (p)5.2    

Bay City

 7.2 6.8 (p)6.3    

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

 (r)5.1 5.3 5.6 (p)5.3 (p)(r)0.2

Detroit-Dearborn-Livonia(1)

 6.5 6.3 (p)6.7    

Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills(1)

 4.6 4.8 (p)5.0    

Flint

 7.1 8.9 (p)6.3    

Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood

 4.8 4.5 (p)4.0    

Jackson

 5.9 5.7 (p)5.1    

Kalamazoo-Portage

 4.9 4.7 (p)4.1    

Lansing-East Lansing

 5.1 5.0 (p)4.3    

Midland

 5.6 5.4 (p)5.1    

Monroe

 6.1 5.7 (p)5.3    

Muskegon-Norton Shores

 6.3 5.7 (p)5.2    

Niles

 6.0 5.5 (p)4.9    

Saginaw

 7.5 7.3 (p)6.2    

South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI

 4.1 3.7 (p)4.2    

Traverse City

 5.6 4.9 (p)4.7    

Minnesota

Duluth, MN-WI

 4.9 6.0 (p)6.2    

Fargo, ND-MN

 3.0 3.4 (p)3.4    

Grand Forks, ND-MN

 3.1 3.5 (p)3.2    

La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN

 3.1 3.8 (p)4.0    

Mankato

 3.3 4.5 (p)4.5    

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

 3.5 4.8 (p)4.8    

Rochester

 3.3 4.5 (p)4.5    

St. Cloud

 4.3 5.9 (p)5.9    

Missouri

Cape Girardeau, MO-IL

 4.0 3.8 (p)3.8    

Columbia

 3.8 3.6 (p)3.5    

Jefferson City

 3.5 3.4 (p)3.3    

Joplin, MO-KS

 4.2 4.0 (p)3.9    

Kansas City, MO-KS

 4.2 4.1 (p)4.2    

Springfield

 4.0 4.0 (p)4.0    

St. Joseph

 4.3 4.2 (p)4.2    

St. Louis, MO-IL

 4.1 4.6 (p)4.4    

Nebraska

Grand Island

 4.4 5.1 (p)3.7    

Lincoln

 2.6 3.1 (p)3.2    

Omaha, NE-IA

 3.1 3.5 (p)3.5    

Sioux City, IA-NE-SD

 3.5 3.8 (p)3.7    

North Dakota

Bismarck

 2.9 3.1 (p)3.0    

Fargo, ND-MN

 3.0 3.4 (p)3.4    

Grand Forks, ND-MN

 3.1 3.5 (p)3.2    

Minot

 3.2 3.3 (p)3.3    

Ohio

Akron

 5.5 4.9 (p)4.8    

Canton-Massillon

 5.6 5.1 (p)5.0    

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

 4.9 4.2 (p)4.2    

Cleveland

 (r)4.4 3.8 4.7 (p)4.0 (p)(r)-0.4

Columbus

 4.8 4.1 (p)4.1    

Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek

 5.3 4.7 (p)4.6    

Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH

 5.1 5.1 (p)5.5    

Lima

 5.3 5.0 (p)4.9    

Mansfield

 6.1 5.6 (p)5.5    

Sandusky

 7.3 6.8 (p)6.5    

Springfield

 5.8 6.4 (p)4.9    

Toledo

 6.1 5.8 (p)5.2    

Wheeling, WV-OH

 5.2 5.4 (p)5.8    

Weirton-Steubenville, WV-OH

 6.0 5.5 (p)5.8    

Youngstown-Warren, OH

 6.2 6.7 (p)6.4    

South Dakota

Rapid City

 1.7 2.4 (p)2.5    

Sioux City, IA-NE-SD

 3.5 3.8 (p)3.7    

Sioux Falls, SD-MN

 1.8 2.5 (p)2.6    

Wisconsin

Appleton

 3.0 3.1 (p)3.5    

Duluth, MN-WI

 4.9 6.0 (p)6.2    

Eau Claire

 3.9 4.2 (p)4.5    

Fond du Lac

 3.2 3.4 (p)3.8    

Green Bay

 3.2 3.4 (p)3.8    

Janesville-Beloit

 4.0 4.2 (p)4.7    

La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN

 3.1 3.8 (p)4.0    

Madison

 2.7 2.9 (p)3.3    

Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI

 3.8 3.9 (p)4.4    

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

 3.5 4.8 (p)4.8    

Oshkosh-Neenah

 3.1 3.3 (p)3.7    

Racine-Mount Pleasant, WI

 4.4 4.6 (p)5.2    

Sheboygan

 2.9 3.1 (p)3.5    

Wausau

 3.0 3.3 (p)3.7    

Footnotes
(1) Metropolitan Division
(p) Preliminary
(r) Revised

Source: Local Area Unemployment Statistics
The State and regional data above are a product of the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, a Federal-State cooperative program in which total employment and unemployment are measured for approximately 7,200 areas.
 
Nonfarm wage and salary employment in Midwest States, seasonally adjusted (in thousands)
Area

(news release)		 Back
data		 Mar
2025		 Jan
2026		 Feb
2026		 Mar
2026		 Mar 2025 to
Mar 2026
Net
change		 Percent
change

United States

 158,377 158,592 (p)158,459 (p)158,637 (p)260 (p)0.2

Illinois

 6,149.8 6,155.0 6,137.1 (p)6,145.5 (p)-4.3 (p)-0.1

Indiana

 3,271.5 3,251.0 3,255.4 (p)3,261.1 (p)-10.4 (p)-0.3

Iowa

 1,596.5 1,580.8 1,576.3 (p)1,575.8 (p)-20.7 (p)-1.3

Kansas

 1,464.1 1,465.6 1,461.2 (p)1,460.0 (p)-4.1 (p)-0.3

Michigan

 4,484.7 4,475.2 4,470.5 (p)4,475.9 (p)-8.8 (p)-0.2

Minnesota

 3,022.2 3,033.4 3,026.5 (p)3,027.3 (p)5.1 (p)0.2

Missouri

 2,990.9 2,994.7 2,985.7 (p)2,982.5 (p)-8.4 (p)-0.3

Nebraska

 1,058.5 1,059.9 1,053.8 (p)1,055.8 (p)-2.7 (p)-0.3

North Dakota

 447.3 446.9 448.5 (p)449.4 (p)2.1 (p)0.5

Ohio

 5,663.5 5,673.9 5,669.2 (p)5,681.7 (p)18.2 (p)0.3

South Dakota

 468.5 470.0 470.2 (p)469.6 (p)1.1 (p)0.2

Wisconsin

 3,038.8 3,030.4 3,020.4 (p)3,021.6 (p)-17.2 (p)-0.6

Footnotes
(p) Preliminary

Source: Current Employment Statistics - National - State and Metropolitan Area
The Current Employment Statistics (CES) Survey is a monthly survey of business establishments which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data by industry for the nation as a whole, all States, and most major metropolitan areas since 1939. The CES survey is a Federal-State cooperative program in which State employment security agencies prepare the data using concepts, definitions, and technical procedures prescribed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.