According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provisional estimates, in July 2003 the seasonally adjusted civilian labor force in Wisconsin numbered 3,099,200, with approximately 174,300 workers unemployed, yielding an unemployment rate of 5.6%, compared to the national average of 6.2% for the same period. Since the beginning of the BLS data series in 1978, the highest unemployment rate recorded was 12.7% in January 1983. The historical low was 2.8% in June 1999. In 2001, an estimated 5.7% of the labor force was employed in construction; 21.0% in manufacturing; 4.5% in transportation, communications, and public utilities; 19.3% in trade; 5.5% in finance, insurance, and real estate; 23.3% in services; 11.1% in government; and 3.3% in agriculture.
Labor began to organize in the state after the Civil War. The Knights of St. Crispin, a shoemakers' union, grew into what was at that time the nation's largest union, before it collapsed during the Panic of 1873. In 1887, unions of printers, cigarmakers, and iron molders organized the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council, and in 1893 the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor was formed. A statewide union for public employees was established in 1932. In 1977, the state's legislature granted public employees (except public safety personnel) the right to strike, subject to certain limitations.
The US Department of Labor reported that in 2002, 398,000 of Wisconsin's 2,554,000 employed wage and salary workers were members of unions. This represented 15.6% of those so employed, down from 16.2% in 2001 and 18.7% in 1998. The national average is 13.2%. In all, 420,000 workers (16.4%) were represented by unions. In addition to union members, this category includes workers who report no union affiliation but whose jobs are covered by a union contract.