Despite a surge in employment rates in late 2011, Wisconsin is still struggling to create new jobs when compared to the rest of the nation.
According to a report from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin lost an estimated 27,700 private sector jobs from August to December of 2011 – more than any other state in the nation.
The BLS’s report, released late last week, said the state has also seen a decrease in manufacturing with a disappearance of 5,800 industry jobs over the last six months of 2011, a loss surpassed only by California.
“We just don’t know what is going on,” University of Wisconsin economics professor Steven Deller said. “The most recent recession was so deep and lasted so long, we are just in uncharted waters.”
Wisconsin’s mass layoffs in January 2012 were also greater than layoffs in Minnesota and Michigan combined, according to the report from the BLS.
According to a separate report from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, Wisconsin is also one of six states expected to undergo an economic contraction in the first part of 2012. PFR’s list featured no other states in the Midwest expected to contract.
Although the numbers show Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign promise of creating 250,000 jobs has yet to be fulfilled, the BLS statistics show the unemployment rate did decrease from 8.5 to 7.5 percent in 2011, a rate lower than the national average of 8.9 percent.
In an ad released Monday, Walker cited cuts to public employee pensions and health insurance as the sources of the state’s lower unemployment rates. Walker also said he managed to balance the budget without layoffs and eliminated Wisconsin’s $3.6 billion deficit.
Walker’s campaign spokesperson Ciara Matthews said in a statement Walker took the necessary steps to address Wisconsin’s economy during his first year in office. She said the reason Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is down and the people of Wisconsin are keeping their money is because of the immediate action Walker took when stepping into office.
However, Walker’s claims of fixing Wisconsin’s job market have been receiving criticism. Deller suggested the governor’s announcement of lower unemployment rates might only be a result of workers leaving the market.
“Baby boomers are declining, we have more stay-at-home parents; more people are taking part-time jobs or starting their own businesses,” Deller said. “We just don’t have data from the past three months to see what has been happening.”
Deller also said business owners would be reluctant to hire because of the upcoming recall elections and people moving to Wisconsin for career opportunities may hesitate because they are unsure of the political situation.
He also suggested any new policies promoting small businesses, particularly in manufacturing, food processing and personal services, could have an effect on jobs moving in and out of the state.
Gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Falk’s spokesperson Scot Ross challenged Walker’s performance on job creation and said Falk would invest more money in education, healthcare and renewable energy to create jobs.
“Walker’s way is to hand out unaccountable tax breaks for the few. The trickle down economics effect has never worked for this country, and it’s failing the state now,” Ross said.
