George, What's your point? One month sampling only? How does this compare to the national average under our halfrican POTUS? Bucking a lackluster hiring trend nationally, Wisconsin added an estimated 12,900 private-sector jobs from May to June - the largest single-month gain since September 2003.
Gov. Scott Walker touted the best job numbers since he took office in January by traveling to Milwaukee to deliver them in person, a departure from the state's custom of issuing the
monthly jobs report in a news release.
Tempering the job-creation figures was an uptick in the state's unemployment rate to 7.6% in June, from 7.4% in May. The unemployment rate and job-creation numbers are derived from separate samples - the payroll figures come from a survey of employers, while the unemployment rate comes from a survey of households - and it has been common during the two-year recovery for the two numbers to move in opposite directions from time to time, reflecting the uncertainty in the economy.
Walker noted that job growth in Wisconsin effectively accounted for about half of the new jobs in the nation in June, an abysmal month for job creation.
The state had a net total of 9,500 new jobs in the month, because a decline in government employment offset some of the gains in the private sector. Nationally, Walker said, 18,000 new jobs were created last month - 57,000 gained in the private sector minus a drop of 39,000 in government payrolls.
"It's incredibly important to put that in perspective," Walker said. "To have 9,500 net new jobs in the state at a time when the country saw just 18,000 net new jobs all across the country is incredibly good news, and it's driven by the rebirth of tourism in the state."
Nearly half of Wisconsin's new private-sector jobs were in the tourism, hospitality and food services category.
Jobs in the tourism and hospitality businesses are often temporary positions with low pay and few or no benefits, said Brian Jacobsen, an economist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls.
But state Tourism Secretary Stephanie Klett pointed out that tourism is the state's third-biggest industry, behind only manufacturing and agriculture, and she noted that Walker has increased Wisconsin's tourism marketing budget.
A tourist destination? Asked whether the new tourism jobs might be temporary, Walker said Wisconsin has a year-round tourism economy, with summer attractions that transition into autumn and winter sports.
"After several trying years for the economy, it looks like a good number of people hit the road for a vacation in Wisconsin," said Andy Feldman, director of Madison-based
BadgerStat.org, a newly launched nonprofit statistical tracking organization.
Because relatively small sample sizes are extrapolated to come up with the statewide numbers each month, they are regarded as estimates.
They are also preliminary and prone to revision, as is common for all unemployment figures at the state or federal level.
Also, both the job-creation and unemployment figures are adjusted to filter out seasonal changes, such as weather-related fluctuations in the construction industry.
"You don't want to read too much into month-to-month changes," Feldman said.
Walker touts policies Walker said that some of the positive news in June stems from the policies of his 6-month-old Republican administration.
But he added that the state's overall business climate or "enthusiasm" was also a factor.
"Job seekers and employers alike are reaping the economic benefits of the business-friendly environment that Gov. Walker is advancing, and we encourage job seekers to keep pursuing these new employment opportunities," said state Workforce Development Secretary Scott Baumbach, who appeared with Walker in Milwaukee along with Klett.
171,000 state jobs lost All told in the 2008-'09 recession, Wisconsin lost nearly 171,000 jobs, and it has gained back 50,000 over the last year and a half, Feldman said.
"We're about 30% of the way back," he said.
The state's leading business lobby groups quickly released statements in support of Walker's economic policies.
"Business leaders here and nationally like what is happening in Wisconsin," said Kurt Bauer, president of the Madison-based Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's biggest business group.
"June employment figures released today show Wisconsin at the forefront of the nation's job creation," said a release from the Waukesha County Business Alliance.
