Milwaukee’s unemployment is currently 5.6 percent, down from 7.0 percent during the same period a year earlier.

1. Office real estate implications
Office employment trends (12-month change) | Milwaukee
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, JLL Research, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce
Job growth/loss by sector (12-month change) | Milwaukee
Total jobs vs. Unemployment rate | Milwaukee
5.6%
Milwaukee unemployment
0.7%
Milwaukee 12-month job growth
5.5%
U.S. unemployment
2.3%
U.S. 12-month job growth
• Slightly less than 500 jobs were shed in the most recent monthly data from the
BLS, however provisional data indicates that more than 17,000 jobs were
added in the first two months of 2015. Milwaukee’s unemployment is currently
5.6 percent , down from 7.0 percent during the same period a year earlier.
• The office-using sectors added 4,600 jobs year-over-year in the most recent
monthly data from the BLS and the industrial-using sectors added 1,400 year-
over-year.
• Total U.S. nonfarm employment increased by 126,000 jobs in March, the
lowest level since March 2013 and well below economist forecasts of 244,000
jobs. Downward revisions were also made to the January and February
figures, totaling 69,000 jobs.
• U.S. unemployment was unchanged at 5.5 percent and wage growth
remained sluggish as average hourly earnings increased only 2.1 percent
year-over-year, far below the Fed’s goal of 3.5 percent or better.
Employment Update
Metro Milwaukee | April 2015
Number of jobs
Wells Fargo recently announced that it will close its West Parkland Home
Lending Service Facility in northwest Milwaukee in July and cut 1,000
Milwaukee-area jobs, however multiple expansions have been announced in
recent months on both the office and industrial side. The construction of
Northwest Mutual’s downtown office tower is having a positive impact on the
local industrial market. Benson Industries Inc. has signed a 15-month lease for
83,000 square feet. The company will use the new space to assemble aluminum
and glass curtain walls for the new tower.
A number of large industrial lease deals completed during Q1 2015 have
illuminated the dwindling supply of available, existing inventory. With more than
2 million square feet of speculative inventory either planned or under
construction, developers sense the timing is right to capitalize on scarcity.
On the office side, Milwaukee’s urban core is attracting new residents and office
tenants, and developers are repositioning functionally obsolete office buildings
into alternative uses which is taking pressure off of the downtown office market
and uncovering value for obsolete office product.
-3,500
-1,000
-200
500
900
1,000
1,400
1,700
1,700
3,200
-4,000 -3,000 -2,000 -1,000 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000
Leisure & Hospitality
Trade, Transportation & Utilities
Information
Mining, Logging & Construction
Manufacturing
Other Services
Government
Financial Activities
Professional & Business Services
Educational & Health Services
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
660,000
680,000
700,000
720,000
740,000
760,000
780,000
800,000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Peak: 779,9031 jobs
3.2%

2. For more information, please contact:
© 2015 Jones Lang LaSalle IP, Inc.
All rights reserved. All information
contained herein is from sources
deemed reliable; however, no
representation or warranty is made
to the accuracy thereof.
News on the street | Milwaukee businesses expanding, contracting, etc.
Employment statistics | Milwaukee Industry employment stratification | Milwaukee
245 S. Executive Drive
Suite 300
Brookfield, WI 53005
+1 262 784 7500
www.jll.com/milwaukee
February 2013 February 2014 February 2015
Total non-farm
employment
816,500
1.7%
829,000
1.5%
834,700
0.7%
Unemployment rate 8.1% 7.0% 5.6%
Milwaukee supersectors February 2013 February 2014 February 2015
Mining, Logging & Construction 21,900 5.3% 23,300 6.4% 23,800 2.1%
Manufacturing 119,100 0.7% 119,100 0.0% 120,000 0.8%
Trade, Transportation, & Utilities 140,600 0.3% 141,300 0.5% 140,300 -0.7%
Information 14,700 -2.0% 14,500 -1.4% 14,300 -1.4%
Financial Activities 51,300 -1.0% 51,100 -0.4% 52,800 3.3%
Professional & Business Services 119,000 3.7% 121,800 2.4% 123,500 1.4%
Educational & Health Services 151,700 3.6% 157,100 3.6% 160,300 2.0%
Leisure & Hospitality 68,600 3.0% 71,600 4.4% 68,100 -4.9%
Other Services 41,500 -1.0% 42,000 1.2% 43,000 2.4%
Government 88,100 1.0% 87,200 -1.0% 88,600 1.6%
Advance Die Cast Co. | Die cast manufacturing: Closing
Roughly 75 workers will lose their jobs due to the closing of Advance Die Cast Co. on May 24th, according to a release from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce
Development. The company at 3760 N. Holton St., Milwaukee, produced aluminum and zinc die castings and has been in business since 1920.
Amazon.com Inc. | E-commerce: Expanding
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has began hiring employees in March for its more than 1-million-square-foot distribution center it is building in Kenosha. The
new fulfillment center, when complete, will join the company's 500,000-square-foot sortation center where hundreds of employees now work.
Jelly Belly Candy Co. | Candy manufacturing: Closing
Jelly Belly Candy Co. is seeking to sell its Pleasant Prairie warehouse and gift shop building, and plans to move the operation to Tennessee. The California-based
company occupies the warehouse at 10100 Jelly Belly Lane in Pleasant Prairie and has listed the building for sale according to a company spokesman.
Synergy Industrial Corp. | Computer hardware: Expanding
Synergy Industrial Corp. bought a Brookfield building for $1.5 million and will move its operations there in about a month. The company bought a 45,000-square-foot
industrial building and 2.8-acre property at 3540 N. 126th St. in Brookfield. It currently leases a Wauwatosa building, but needed space to expand and also wanted
to own its own facility. Synergy will occupy about 25,000 square feet, and will lease the remainder of the space to other companies.
Unidentified manufacturer | Manufacturing: Expanding
A manufacturer is negotiating to buy about 19 acres in the former Iceport site in Cudahy to develop two large facilities. The project, with roughly 300,000 square feet
in two buildings, would redevelop a city-owned site that has been on the market for about four years. According to Cudahy’s economic development director, the
manufacturing facility would be built in phases, starting with a 150,000-square-foot building and 100 jobs, and followed by a building of similar size.
Wells Fargo & Company | Banking: Contracting
Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) announced that it is laying off 1,000 employees at its West Parkland Home Lending Servicing facility in Milwaukee. Ironically,
improved economic conditions were given as a key reason for the layoffs. Improving conditions for homeowners mean fewer delinquencies, and have shifted
demand from mortgage servicing to production.
Educational and Health
Services, 160,300, 19%
Trade, transportation
and Utilities, 140,300,
17%
Professional and
Business Services,
123,500, 15%
Manufacturing, 120,000,
14%
Government, 88,600,
11%
Leisure and Hospitality,
68,100, 8%
Financial Activities,
52,800, 6%
Other Services, 43,000,
5%
Mining, Logging and
Construction, 23,800,
3%
Information, 14,300, 2%
Abel Balwierz
Senior Research Analyst
tel +1 612 217 5136
Abel.Balwierz@am.jll.com
45 South Seventh Street,
Suite 3051
Minneapolis MN 55402
www.jll.com/minneapolis
Robert Kramp
Senior Vice President – Americas
Midwest & Great Lakes Research Director
tel +1 312 228 2470
Robert.Kramp@am.jll.com
200 East Randolph Street, 47th Floor
Chicago, IL 60601
www.us.joneslanglasalle.com/research