New federal figures show Wisconsin was 42nd in the nation for private sector job creation during a one year period that ended last June. The federal government’s Quarterly Census on Earnings and Wages says the Badger State added 35,381 private sector jobs during the 12 month period covering June 2011 through June 2012; an increase of just one-and-a-half percent.
North Dakota had the largest increase at just over 12-percent, which was attributed to new oil fields that have attracted thousands of workers from out-of-state.
Tuesday’s report surveyed 96 percent of the nation’s public-and-private employers. It’s the most complete federal survey on employment trends, and Governor Scott Walker has said it provides a better idea of what’s actually going on than the monthly job reports. The monthly reports are much timelier, but only sample about three-percent of employers.
Walker released the report’s raw job numbers last summer, several weeks before the national report came out and just before he faced voters in a recall election. At the time, it was not clear how Wisconsin fared compared to other states, since there’s about a seven month delay in releasing the nationwide report.