Madison has not produced as many jobs for the community this year as it has in the past, according to a recently released study on the Best Performing Cities.

The study by the Milken Institute was designed to examine the ability of various metropolitan areas to create both short-term and long-term jobs in the community.

Dane, Columbia and Iowa counties, included in the Madison Metro area, came in at 178 in the job growth chart. Since the chart included 200 cities, this put Madison near the end of the list.

According to the study, Ocala, Fla., came in first place, with a 1.88 percent growth rate in job production. Last on the list was East Lancing, Mich. with a -.35 percent job production decrease in the past year.

Madison saw a job growth rate of -.18 percent from March 2006 to March 2007.

City officials have had a hard time figuring out why.

George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said since this study ranked the whole Madison region, including more than just Dane County, "it is nearly impossible to pinpoint the exact cause of this trend."

Twigg said this trend has nothing to do with the state budget, however, and added Madison is traditionally ranked positively in terms of unemployment rates.

"Madison has statistically had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state of Wisconsin," Twigg said.

Therefore, he said, this study does not directly correlate to the rate of unemployment.

While unemployment may not be an issue for Madison, Twigg said the city is eager to rank higher in this study in coming years.

"We do realize that the economy is becoming more and more competitive," Twigg said.

Sterning Lynk, director at the Urban League of Greater Madison, an organization that works to improve the social and economic conditions of those who are economically disadvantaged in Madison, agreed with Twigg.

"Economic development centers greatly around job production," Lynk said. "We need a commitment from everyone to develop this sector of our growing community."

While the entire community might not be involved at this point, Twigg said, the city is currently seeing that improvements are made.

"We are putting together a new economic plan, one that will help us compete better in the economy," Twigg said.

The Milken Institute is a nonprofit economic think tank based in California.