Unemployment is down, but overall job growth remains anemic in Wisconsin. The Department of Workforce Development Thursday released preliminary numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which show Wisconsin’s January unemployment rate dropped to 6.9 percent – seasonally adjusted – from a revised 7.0 percent in December 2011 and 7.7 percent in January 2011. The state also added 15,700 private sector jobs and 12,500 jobs overall.
However when earlier job losses are factored into the equation, the numbers show the state added just 6,000 the first 13 months of Governor Scott Walker’s term. Walker campaigned on a promise to create 250,000 new jobs in four years. John Dipko with DWD notes Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is below the national average, and, as of December 2011, “below that of other major Midwestern industrial states, including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.” The state’s unemployment rate is at its lowest since December 2008.
READ: Department of Workforce Development release (PDF)