Only 13 states had slower job growth than Wisconsin over the past year. That’s according to a new quarterly analysis released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Badger State created just over 28,000 private sector jobs during the 2013 calendar year. That’s an increase of one-point-two percent — the 37th smallest percentage growth among the 50 states. It put Wisconsin two places lower on the totem pole than the last report three months ago. The national job growth was just under one point higher than Wisconsin’s, at 2.1 percent.
Republican Governor Scott Walker guaranteed it would be a hot-button political issue four years ago, when he promised 250,000 new private sector jobs during his first campaign. That total is just over 100,000, as Wisconsin has seen an unsteady recovery from the Great Recession.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate dropped for the ninth month in a row in May, falling to a seasonally adjusted jobless rate of 5.8 percent. That’s down a tenth of a point from April and it’s a half-percent below the national average of 6.3 percent.