Wisconsin Manufacturing Employment Continues Decline in April.

Byline: Joel Dresang

May 18--Manufacturing employment in Wisconsin continued to decline last month as the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate crept up to 4.2 percent .

The state Department of Workforce Development reported Thursday that hiring in construction, services and retailing showed healthy growth between March and April. But after months of slumping, the Wisconsin economy still isn't clearly out of the woods.

"I suspect we're seeing some moderate recovery; we're just slow coming out of it," said Terry Ludeman, the department's chief labor economist.

The state unemployment rate, which is considered preliminary, rose from …