Boat builder layoffs drive up Green Bay unemployment rate

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The unemployment rate in the city of Green Bay, Wis. climbed to 10.3 percent this past January due in part to layoffs at regional employers like Cruisers Yachts and Genmar Yacht Group, according to an article today on GreenBayGazette.com.

That translates into 5,944 Green Bay residents without jobs out of a 57,500-person labor force, which represents an increase in the number of unemployed of 1,233 from December, the article stated.

The city joined five other Wisconsin cities with unemployment rates of 10 percent and above, the newspaper Web site reported.

Bay Area Workforce Development Board Executive Director Jim Golembeski told the newspaper that the city’s high percentage of “less-skilled workers” with only a high school education was partially responsible for the rates.

“… If they want a decent job, they have to do better,” he said.

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