WI Gov. Walker touts favorable jobs numbers
By: Caroline Rowland
Updated: May 16, 2012
Wis. (WFRV)-- A new jobs report released Wednesday by the Department of Workforce Development and backed by Governor Scott Walker shows Wisconsin created 23,321 jobs in 2011.
A stark difference from numbers recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which listed a loss of 33,900 jobs during the same time, ranking Wisconsin dead last in the nation for job growth.
The difference in the numbers comes by how they are calculated. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers were estimates based on a survey of 3.5 percent of Wisconsin employers. While the numbers from the DWD, are based on job reports from 96% of Wisconsin businesses or about 160,000 employers.
"It's better than expected job numbers, and it's important to get that information out," said Walker, "the numbers we forwarded to the federal government show a shift in more than 57,000 more jobs than were thought, a net gain of jobs for 2011, and more than 33,000 jobs created since I've taken office."
It's the timing of the release of the numbers that have walker's critics fired up. The numbers have yet to be reviewed by the federal government and won't be released by them until late June, weeks after the recall election.
Walker stands by the release of the numbers, saying it's not political, but that it's information that needs to get out.
"The numbers were due today, the only difference is that the federal government releases them on their own in about a month," said Walker.
Jim Morgan, president of the Wisconsin manufacturers commerce foundation which represents more than 35-hundred Wisconsin employers, said the new numbers show a more accurate picture of employment in the state and hopes it will show the nation that Wisconsin is a good place to do business.
"The ones that came out today were the real labor statistics numbers, those are the actual numbers not projections of what people think are going to happen," said Morgan.
The DWD numbers will be reviewed by the federal government and come out in a full report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on June 28.
