Governor Scott Walker says Wisconsin job growth is challenged by the national economy. Walker sounded a bullish theme on jobs growth during remarks in Green Bay Tuesday, noting his campaign goal of creating 250,000 new jobs in Wisconsin. “Numbers for June will come out in about a week, but the good news up front is we’ve had in the first five months of this year,” said Walker, including 13,000 jobs in manufacturing. Walker said the state has a lower unemployment rate than the nation as a whole. “But what our challenge is, is dealing with the burden of the national economy. So we need to be more aggressive, take even more steps than we did in the first four or five weeks we were in session,” Walker said. “It’s great to say we’re open for business, but you’ve got to prove it.”
Walker commented after signing two bills he said will help the state’s economy and job creation prospects, one dealing with the trucking industry and another allowing Canadian hydroelectric power to count towards the state’s renewable energy portfolio.