Unfortunately, Gov. Walker still has the
nation’s worst jobs record
Universally recognized federal data shows Wisconsin lost 21,400 jobs
over the past year, far more than any other state
MADISON – Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) issued the following statement today after the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics released its new nationwide report showing Wisconsin lost far more jobs than any other state over the past year: 21,400 job losses from April 2011 to April 2012. The state with the second-largest job losses – Rhode Island – lost 4,300 jobs.
The report shows that Wisconsin’s neighboring states all made significant jobs gains over the past year, ranging from 18,100 jobs gained in Iowa to 59,300 jobs gained in Michigan. The nation as a whole has added jobs for 19 straight months.
This is unfortunately consistent with the fact that Wisconsin also had the worst job numbers from March 2011 to March 2012.
“According to the federal state-by-state data that everybody trusts and uses, Wisconsin is unfortunately dead last by far in job creation under Gov. Walker. No partisan political press release from the Walker Administration can change that.
“What’s so glaring about these numbers is that in 2010, in a worse economy, Wisconsin added 24,000 jobs. In an improving economy, Wisconsin has gone backward.
“Democrats have worked hard on common-sense initiatives that would help put people back to work quickly. But Gov. Walker and Republican legislators put politics first and ignored those efforts, and now Wisconsin’s working families are suffering as a result.
“Instead of coming forward with new ideas on how to create jobs, Gov. Walker and his administration would rather just find new ways to count jobs. But this data couldn’t be clearer – Gov. Walker has failed to put the proper focus and emphasis needed for effective job creation. Our citizens expect and demand much better.”
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