News of the Day

The Labor Department said Wednesday that its Producer Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level before it reaches consumers, climbed 0.5% in September from the previous month. On an annual basis, prices are up 2.2%, the largest increase since April.

In another sign that suggests high inflation has been slow to dissipate, core prices – which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy – rose 0.3% for the month. That is higher than both the 0.2% estimate and the reading recorded last month.

The figure was up 2.2% on a 12-month basis.

The data comes one day before the Labor Department releases its more closely watched consumer price index, which measures the prices paid directly by consumers. The gauge is expected to show that inflation cooled ever so slightly last month as high prices continue to squeeze consumers.

Both releases are considered to be important measurements of inflation, with the PPI believed to be a leading indicator of inflationary pressures as costs work their way down to consumers. The different gauges point to inflation that is still running above the Federal Reserve’s preferred 2% target.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court voted Monday to reduce from 20 years to two years the time when most eviction records must be kept on the state court website, commonly referred to by the acronym CCAP.

Legal Action of Wisconsin sought the change for cases where there is no money judgment against a tenant. At a hearing last month, tenant advocates said the change would help renters with eviction histories, since many landlords rely solely on the statewide court website for determining whether to rent to someone.

Numerous landlord groups, including the Wisconsin Realtors Association, opposed the proposal. They argued that changing the rule could result in landlords charging higher rental deposits to protect themselves, a change that will negatively affect all renters.

Last year in Wisconsin, there were 25,819 filings for eviction with 1,621 resulting in judgment of evictions being granted, according to the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

Wisconsin utility regulators approved rate hikes for electric and natural gas customers served by two of the state’s largest utilities on Thursday, but they reduced profits utilities can collect amid outcry from financially-strapped ratepayers.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved overall electric rate hikes of 8.8 percent for We Energies and 9 percent for Wisconsin Public Service, according to commission staff. The increase is higher than what utilities initially proposed, but less than changes they suggested later that would have shifted more costs to residential customers.

This fall, the utilities owned by Milwaukee-based WEC Energy Group asked for electric rate hikes of 13 percent for We Energies residential customers and a nearly 15 percent increase for Wisconsin Public Service, or WPS, ratepayers. That increase would have cost the average homeowner at least $14 more per month beginning in January.

Now, We Energies residential customers will see a nearly 11 percent increase that will cost them $11 to $12 more per month, according to preliminary figures from the commission and utilities. WPS customers will spend $9 more per month.

For natural gas, commission staff estimate rates will increase 6.2 percent, or roughly $47 annually, for Wisconsin Gas customers and 9.5 percent, or roughly $63 annually, for Wisconsin Electric Gas customers. WPS gas rates will climb 7 percent overall. With heating bills slated to rise, the utilities expect gas customers to pay $20 to $30 more per month this winter, including the rate hikes.

The commission is expected to finalize and approve a written order on its decision this month. We Energies serves more than 1.1 million electric customers and 1.1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Public Service provides electricity to 457,000 electric customers and 338,000 natural gas customers.

The U.S. labor market surged in September, by adding 336,000 jobs, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday. It’s the largest monthly employment gain since January and is significantly above August’s net gain of 227,000 jobs, which was revised up by 40,000 from initial estimates.

In September, leisure and hospitality helped drive job growth higher, with 96,000 jobs added. That’s above the pace of 61,000 jobs a month that this sector has seen during the past 12 months, according to the BLS report. Government jobs also saw a hefty boost, rising by 73,000.

The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% in August, and the number of unemployed workers was essentially unchanged at 6.4 million.

Job growth may be generating plenty of heat, but wages are cooling off. Average hourly earnings rose by 0.2% in September, bringing the annual gain to 4.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs report released Friday.

September’s wage growth is the lowest seen monthly since February 2022 and year-over-year since June 2021, noted Andrew Patterson, Vanguard senior economist.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of mortgage applications fell 6% last week to the lowest level since 1996, according to new data published Wednesday.

The data also showed that the average rate on the popular 30-year loan climbed for the fourth straight week to 7.53%, the highest level since 2000. By comparison, just one year ago, rates hovered around 5.65%.

“Mortgage rates continued to move higher last week as markets digested the recent upswing in Treasury yields,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s deputy chief economist. “As a result, mortgage applications ground to a halt, dropping to the lowest level since 1996.”

Demand for refinancing also fell further last week, sliding another 7%, according to the survey. Compared with the same time last year, refinance applications are down 11%.

“The purchase market slowed to the lowest level of activity since 1995, as the rapid rise in rates pushed an increasing number of potential homebuyers out of the market,” Kan said.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday ousted Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The 216-to-210 vote marked the first time in history that the House removed its leader, with eight Republicans voting with 208 Democrats to remove McCarthy. McCarthy told reporters he would not make another run for speaker.

Republicans control the chamber by a narrow 221-212 majority, meaning they can afford to lose no more than five votes if Democrats unite in opposition. McCarthy’s ouster as speaker brings legislative activity in the House to a halt

Republican leaders like Steve Scalise and Tom Emmer could possibly be candidates, though neither has publicly expressed interest. Representative Patrick McHenry was named to the post on a temporary basis. Multiple Republicans said they planned to meet on Oct. 10 to discuss possible McCarthy successors, with a vote on a new speaker planned for October 11.

After a record-breaking year for startup investment in 2021, Wisconsin has struggled to keep that momentum going in 2022 and 2023.

Investment in early-stage companies was down last year, but still higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to an annual report from the Wisconsin Tech Council. However, such investments so far this year have come in much lower.

This year, roughly $191 million in investment deals have been tracked so far, less than the $209 million tracked in all of 2015, according to Joe Kremer, director of the Wisconsin Tech Council Investor Networks program.

He said it’s unlikely the state will match the record-breaking $868 million raised in 2021 and the strong $640 million raised last year, but he’s still optimistic that investment could see an uptick before the end of 2023.

“A lot of deals happen in the fourth quarter,” Kremer said. “I saw this last year as well, where we were worried about the numbers, and it really picked up in October through November and December. So we’re anticipating that could happen.”

He also said “large deals” really drive the state’s total investments, pointing to Madison-based Fetch Rewards securing $240 million last year. That accounted for one-third of all investment capital raised in 2022.

“We haven’t had any of those significant deals yet, but I do see some brightness on the horizon here,” Kremer said. “We have had a number of deals that have raised $10 to $20, almost $30 million that are starting to grow to that point that hopefully they will start attracting larger rounds in future years.”

Additionally, 2021 may have been a bit of an outlier for the state, as much of the investment may have been driven by the economy coming back to life as the pandemic eased, Kremer said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission are planning to test both the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) on Wednesday, October 4, at 2:20 p.m. Eastern. The test will be conducted in two parts, with one set to go to cell phones and the other to radio and TV stations.

FEMA says the alert will have a unique tone and vibration to make the alert accessible to all recipients. Phones should receive the message only one time in the 30 minutes after the test begins on Wednesday.

“The purpose of the October 4 test is to ensure that the systems continue to be effective means of warning the public about emergencies, particularly those on the national level,” FEMA and the FCC explained in a statement.

The WEA test will go to Americans’ cell phones and will include one text message that will read, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

The agency noted this will be the third nationwide test of the system, although it will be just the second test that has gone to all cell phones since the system was established in 2012.

FEMA and the FCC are coordinating with EAS participants, wireless providers, emergency managers and others in preparation for the test to minimize confusion and maximize the public safety value of the test.

The agencies have set a backup testing date of October 11, which will be used if there is widespread severe weather or other significant events occurring on October 4 that derail the planned test.

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) has added four more trades exam testing dates to the 2023 calendar as the department continues to look for ways to stay ahead of demand.

“Since I was appointed to lead DSPS, we’ve put an emphasis on making our department more efficient in licensing and strengthening our state’s workforce. We want to pave the way for qualified professionals to become credentialed more quickly, without compromising our commitment to safety,” said DSPS Secretary-designee Dan Hereth. “We have seen, and expect to keep seeing, increased demand for trades exams in Wisconsin. Looking into the future, our agency wants to position itself to meet that demand and help hard-working Wisconsinites get into a variety of rewarding fields.”

The four added dates more than double the number of exam dates available through the end of the year. The new dates are:

October 12
December 19
December 20
December 21

DSPS is notifying people currently signed up for exams in 2024 to offer them a slot on one of the added 2023 dates on a first-come, first-served basis. People registered for trades exams in January and February of 2024 have been offered the first opportunity to move up their test dates, with the department sending each a date change request form.

Currently, DSPS offers trades exams about four days per month at one of five testing locations across the state. In addition to adding more exam dates through 2023, Hereth says DSPS is exploring more ways to increase options and offer more flexibility to Wisconsinites entering the trades.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has been awarded $11.25 million in federal funds to strengthen and modernize its unemployment insurance system, part of a continuing improvement process to make its system more reliable and accessible to users.

The grants will allow Wisconsin and other states to adopt new strategies to upgrade and redesign unemployment insurance programs, better defend against fraud, and make the systems easier to maintain and change.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance services, we continue to seek ways we can leverage technology to improve the speed and accuracy of unemployment benefit payments and make the system easier to navigate,” said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek. “We look forward to investing these funds in additional efforts to overhaul our state’s decades-old unemployment insurance infrastructure and benefits delivery system.”

Since 2021, DWD has received more than $28 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to improve equity, reduce fraud and modernize Wisconsin’s unemployment system.

Learn more about the U.S. Department of Labor strategy to modernize the unemployment insurance system.