Newly-released job numbers show that Wisconsin still lags behind most Midwestern states in job growth, heightening the debate over job creation as the governor’s race is almost a month away.

Between March 2013 and March 2014, Wisconsin ranked 33rd in the nation and 8th out of 10 in the Midwest for job growth, according to the new quarterly numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In that time span, the state added 28,712 private sector jobs and had an overall growth of 1.26 percent, compared with a 2.08 percent increase in national job growth.

The quarterly census, although not as timely as monthly jobs data, is a census of about 96 percent of the state’s employers, so economists agree it is the most accurate portrait on the state’s job creation numbers.

Mike Browne, a spokesperson for the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, called the numbers disappointing, saying they fall far short of Gov. Scott Walker’s promise that he would add 250,000 private sector jobs in his four years in office.

“He has broken his promise to us and the result is Wisconsin continues to trail the rest of the Midwest in jobs and lag significantly behind the nation in terms of job growth,” Browne said. “He’s had an entire term where he’s been in charge with a lockdown Republican Legislature that has given him everything he has asked for in terms of economic development agenda — and the numbers show that he’s been an abject failure.”

But the Walker campaign pointed to unemployment numbers as a sign of a growing economy.

Within the year, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate has dropped to 5.6 percent, the lowest it has been since 2008. Walker spokesperson Alleigh Marré said that number shows Walker’s policies are improving Wisconsin’s job prospects as a whole.

“Wisconsin’s economy is growing and moving forward under Gov. Walker’s leadership,” Marré said. “With more than 100,000 jobs created and the lowest unemployment rate in six years, Wisconsin can’t afford to go backward with Madison liberal Mary Burke.

The election between Walker and Burke, the former Trek Bicycle executive and state commerce secretary, is Nov. 4. The latest Marquette University Law School poll had them at a statistical dead heat for the fourth time in a row.

Governor’s race remains in dead heat in fourth straight Marquette poll