(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s unemployment rate was at 3.1% in July, down from 3.2% in June. The state’s labor force participation rate dropped slightly to 65.0%.

Both numbers were better than U.S. averages of 4.2% for unemployment and 62.2% for labor participation.

“The Wisconsin labor market has cooled a bit along with the national economy,” said Department of Workforce Development Office of Economic Advisors Section Chief Scott Hodek. “But unemployment remains historically low.”

Overall, the state labor force was down 6,700 for the month and 27,000 over the year.

Hodek said that is a trend likely to continue.

The state’s population is projected to progressively decline from the 5.96 million in 2024 by the U.S. Census to 5.71 million by 2050, according to a Wisconsin’s Department of Administration.

“The underlying labor challenge remains demographics,” Hodek. “The Baby Boomers are aging out and we see population declining and labor force declining. We basically have a quantity challenge that is the biggest underlying component of the economy for the coming decades.”