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Median wages have hit a record high in Wisconsin, but job growth has stalled and the state’s Black unemployment rate is rising. 

Those are the main findings from “The State of Working Wisconsin 2026,” a new report on the state’s job market. The annual report is released by the High Road Strategy Center, a left-leaning “think-and-do tank” at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

The report found that after hitting a record high number of jobs — 3,051,000 — in November 2024, the state had just 3,042,900 jobs in July 2026.

“Job growth has ground to a halt, and though wages hit a new high in 2025, high inflation is undermining workers’ wages in 2026,” said Laura Dresser, author of the report and the associate director of the High Road Strategy Center.

“The (report) still shows some very bright spots, but the clouds are gathering on the economic horizon.” 

Dresser told WPR the report’s findings showed a “mixed picture.” 

“There’s some really great news still in this economy,” she said. “We’ve had a strong recovery from the pandemic lockdowns, it’s been sustained and we show again that we got a new high in median wages in 2025.” 

Last year’s report found that the economy was softening, and Dresser said some of those trends have continued. 

Report sees higher unemployment ahead

The state’s unemployment rate is at 3.3%. That is low but “drifting upward” compared to the 2.6% unemployment rate in 2023, the report found.

“With the state losing jobs, it is likely that the rate will continue to rise,” the report said.

And the state has been losing jobs since 2025.  

“Wisconsin’s economy has grown slowly relative to the national economy for years, and now job growth has ground to a halt,” the report said. 

It also found that Wisconsin’s economy “is riddled with inequalities by geography, race, education and gender.”

The report said the unemployment rate for Black Wisconsinites is, “growing much more rapidly than unemployment for other groups.” 

Wisconsin’s Black unemployment rate was 7.2% during the first quarter of 2026, matching the national rate, according to the report. But the state’s unemployment rate for white residents was 2.3%. 

“In 2023, when the unemployment rate was at its low and the labor market was strong, the gap between Black and white unemployment shrank,” the report said. “But as the overall rate has drifted up, the Black rate has grown much more swiftly.”

Wisconsin’s median wage hit a record $26.17 per hour last year. Data for this year are not yet available, “but the signs there are troubling,” the report said. 

“Inflation has risen and wage gains have been weaker,” the report said. “As it did in 2022, inflation could wipe out the wage gains of 2026.” 

State unionization rate plunges

The state’s unionization rate is also fell from 14% in 2011 to 7.5% in 2025.

“State trends in unionization reflect both state policy and industrial structure,” the report said.

Pam Fendt, president of the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, pointed to the impacts of Act 10 on union membership in Wisconsin. She also said growing interest in unions makes her “hopeful for the future.” 

“We do see a lot of interest in organizing,” Fendt said. 

A new Gallup Poll found 71% of Americans approve of labor unions.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour, despite efforts by some to raise it. 

“An increase in the state minimum wage to $20 by 2030 would raise wages for more than 730,000 Wisconsin workers,” the report said. 

“All the neighboring states except for Iowa are on a dramatically different path for minimum wages, and this state has (for) too long just not attended to the minimum wage and raising it for the state’s lower paid workers,” Dresser said. 

Fendt said Milwaukee Area Labor Council also supports raising the minimum wage. 

“Getting it to $20 an hour by 2030 is something that we support because, honestly, the minimum wage has been stagnant for way too long,” Fendt said.

A version of this story was originally published by WPR.

Report: Wisconsin wages reach record high, but job growth stalls is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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A judge in Milwaukee County has tossed out a trespassing citation a Shorewood man received last year for walking past a public beach along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, saying the action was protected by the public trust doctrine. 

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Watts on Thursday reversed the decision of a  municipal judge, who found Paul Florsheim guilty of trespassing. Florsheim, with the help of the nonprofit Midwest Environmental Advocates, appealed that decision, saying he hoped the case would make its way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court so the court could weigh in on public beach access in the state.

“It was very gratifying to read the decision,” Florsheim, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, said in an interview with WPR. “I did feel vindicated.”

Florsheim received a $313 trespassing ticket from the Shorewood Police Department after he walked along the shoreline past Atwater Beach last summer. He represented himself during a municipal court hearing, arguing the part of the beach where he was walking was public land, and he was allowed to be there. 

The state’s public trust doctrine protects the public’s rights on navigable waterways in Wisconsin. Florsheim argued the doctrine protects his right to walk along the shoreline up to the ordinary high water mark. 

But Shorewood Municipal Judge Margo Kirchner ruled against Florsheim, citing a 1923 Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling, Doemel v. Jantz, that found the public cannot walk on the area of the shoreline between the ordinary high water mark and the edge of the water. It said private property owners have exclusive rights to that area.

On its website, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says the ordinary high water mark is defined as, “the point on the bank or shore of a waterway up to which the presence and action of the water is so continuous as to leave a distinct mark either by erosion, destruction of terrestrial vegetation or other easily recognized characteristic.”

Watts, in his decision, wrote, “the strip of land below the (ordinary high water mark) is lakebed owned by the state of Wisconsin,” and that the state’s property extends to that point along Lake Michigan. 

Watts said Florsheim walking along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, below the ordinary high water mark, was a “recreational activity.” 

The 1923 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision related to a dispute along Lake Winnebago, an inland lake. In his decision, Watts said Doemel v. Jantz, “may guide decisions in cases involving tort actions for trespass on inland lakes but provides little guidance for this case.” 

The judge found the walk was protected under the public trust doctrine and “did not infringe on any riparian landowner’s rights.”

A Thursday press release from Midwest Environmental Advocates said the decision from Watts, “did not overrule Doemel.”

In a statement, Michael Greif, an attorney with Midwest Environmental Advocates, said, “The dismissal affirms that the shore of Lake Michigan is public land, and, while the direct impact of the decision is limited to the dismissal of Paul’s ticket, we believe the principles affirmed in this case should be broadly applied.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

Milwaukee County judge overturns trespassing citation in Lake Michigan beach access case is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The city of Sheboygan could be the latest Wisconsin community to cut ties with Flock Safety, the company behind a license plate reader camera system. 

Local officials in places like Oshkosh, Sturgeon Bay, Appleton, Verona and Dane County have already cut ties with the company. It comes as opponents of the technology have raised privacy concerns and worries about how the data can be accessed and shared. 

Sheboygan’s police chief and city administrator plan to ask the common council to terminate the police department’s contract with Flock Safety during an upcoming meeting, according to an Aug. 25 statement.

The statement said the police department has been using automated license plate reader technology for over 10 years, while 15 Flock Safety cameras have been used since 2024. 

“ALPR (automated license plate reader) technology and Flock-captured data have been successfully used to solve several serious criminal cases in the City,” the statement said.

The data from the license plate reader cameras can be accessed by other law enforcement agencies. And there has been a history of misuse of the technology by police officers in Wisconsin.

Last month, the police department “became aware of actions by Flock Safety believed to be inconsistent with the terms and expectations of the City’s contract and which undermine trust in the services provided,” according to the statement. 

“The Police Department confirmed the circumstances and will therefore ask the Common Council to terminate the contract,” the statement said. 

Sheboygan Police Chief Kurt Zempel said the use of technology “is an important part of our effectiveness in providing justice and safety for our community.”

“But as with any system that involves access to powerful technology or sensitive information, strong internal controls and community trust are vital,” Zempel said. “That trust must extend to the partners who provide those services.” 

The common council could vote to terminate the contract during a Sept. 8 meeting. Sheboygan Mayor Ryan Sorenson said public works staff have wrapped the cameras in plastic ahead of that meeting.

Sorenson said he supports the decision by the police chief and city administrator.

“Fundamentally, this is a bigger conversation that you’re seeing across the country,” Sorenson said. “And when you have powerful AI tools, we want to make sure that our community feels safe and trusted.”

Sorenson said the police chief has told him the technology has been used to help solve a few crimes. 

“The crux of the decision that we’re making on this primarily comes from an erosion of trust from Flock itself and how they were using our data,” Sorenson said.

Sheboygan Ald. Susie Boorse, the common council president, said she also has concerns around the data usage related to the technology. 

“I guess it boils down to the fact that we just can’t be too careful about how our data is being used,” Boorse said. “And in the end, while we obviously want public safety to be a priority, I think that we have to make those judgment calls about the way that we go about doing that, to the best of our capabilities.”

Flock cameras have been vandalized in more than 30 states, according to an NPR report. In Wisconsin, police in Waukesha recently reported a Flock camera there was damaged.

Meanwhile, Brookfield Ald. Catherine Kahler is asking the city to “review its use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology and participation in the Flock Safety network before our current agreement automatically renews in July 2027,” according to an Aug. 26 statement.

“I think we should understand how information collected through the system can be accessed and shared, what rights the vendor has regarding that information, how the technology and its capabilities are evolving, and whether our existing safeguards and oversight are sufficient,” Kahler said in the statement. “I also think it is appropriate to consider the implications of using public funds to participate in a privately operated system of this scale.” 

Letter from Milwaukee council members calls for further reforms

This week, members of the Milwaukee Common Council sent a letter to Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman and the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission, or FPC, about the use of the camera system by the police department.

It comes after the department announced changes to department access to the system and changes to its audit process this year. Those changes were made after a former Milwaukee police officer was charged with using the system to check the location of the vehicle of the person he was dating and that person’s ex.  

The letter requested the commission look into more reforms related to the system and asked for a “complete history of all searches conducted by outside agencies using MPD camera data or conducted by MPD officers on behalf of outside agencies.” 

It also asked that a policy be adopted to suspend access to the Flock system, “when there is credible evidence of intentional personal or unauthorized use.” 

“This is an urgent moment, and a problem that will not correct itself,” the letter said. 

In response to that letter, a spokesperson for the department said MPD “respects and values the concerns and positions of our elected officials.”

“We will work with the FPC to address our Council members’ concerns and respond to the Council after we have carefully reviewed their request and can provide a factual and thoughtful response,” the statement said. “The exchange of information, positions and ideas between MPD and our elected officials is important as we both serve the same community. MPD is committed to transparency and engaging in important dialogue such as this.”

This story was originally published by WPR.

Flock Safety cameras in Sheboygan covered up by city is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.