Wisconsin saw the largest percentage decrease in employment in the nation during the 12 months ending in March, a report Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
During that time period, while 27 states and the District of Columbia saw significant job increases, only Wisconsin saw "statistically significant" job losses, the report said.
From March 2011 to March 2012, the state lost 23,900 jobs, for the country's largest percentage decrease, at 0.9 percent.
By sector, the 23,900 lost jobs in Wisconsin broke down to 17,900 from the public sector and 6,000 in the private sector, according to the BLS.
Wisconsin also had the third worst employment losses for March compared to the previous month, with 4,500 fewer jobs than it had in February, the report said. Only Ohio and New Jersey were worse, with 9,500 and 8,600 fewer jobs, respectively.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin's economic recovery is still near the back of the pack:
In the meantime, it's fun watching Walker argue how things are better because more jobs were created in Wisconsin than in Illinois between 3-6 p.m. on odd-numbered Sundays in which it rained. The failure of a governor's economic recovery strategy is usually proportional to the number of absurd qualifiers he uses in comparisons to make it seem like it's not failing.
9 comments:
RS,
I will ask again, what specific economic policy of Walker's do you disagree with? Yes, public sector job losses are up. Private sector job growth is in flux from month to month, but while you quip about the state of jobs in Wis, you never cite specific policies that you think he implemented that are the CAUSE of the job problems.
As Wisconsin starts its 17th month of the Walker administration with less than 16,000 jobs created during his term, apparently we will have to wait until the 250th month for those magically 250,000 jobs. It would different if he actually put ANY effort WHATSOEVER it this JOB, no not the rock star of the GOP job that has all the Fox News appearances, conservative dinners and checks from Donald Trump. The Walker staff is young, dumb and dumber by watching this slow moving car crash happen to give Tom the Taxer the Governor's office by arrogance. Walker has demonstrated what a unfocused, college sophomore can accomplish by playing the machine for what it is worth.
Specific policies? How about specific policies of removing hundreds of millions of dollars from workers and families pockets (i.e. consumers) and giving that money as a lump sum to rich corporations and people. Not only is it abhorrent to transfer wealth in that way through the tax code, but it kills the economy because you're taking so much consumption out a consumption based economy.
Plus cutting public transit and housing makes it very difficult for people with disabilities to get to work or school. I've seen dozens of people lose their jobs as bus lines shut down.
Plus cutting funding for state education is clearly a recipe for tanking the state's economy and a disincentive for long-term investment from companies that are looking at relocating HQs in MN, IL, Dakotas, MI, etc... why would they come to a state with such terrible human capital policies?
etc, etc, etc, etc.
you know... common fucking sense.
Millions of dollars from workers families pockets? Are you referring to the billions of tax increases on everything from cell phones to higher property taxes in Jim Doyle's last budget? Or are you you referring to public union employees who had to pay additional costs that their own union agreed to?
And of those millions, how has that affected companies in this state who, except for tourism-related industries, sell their good on national if not global markets?
And that silly line about corporations...you do know that the hit on this budget is less than $30 million? The figure often used in the billions is based on the next decade.
Transpo and education are almost exclusively handled on the local level where yes, reductions were made, but flexibility and offsets almost completely balanced the cuts. Especially in education where districts that rushed to sign contracts laid off teachers where those who did not had far less layoffs than the last few budgets under Doyle.
This idea that less money in public employees hands shuts down an economy is perpetuated by public employees with a dramatic case of self-importance. Here is a hint, just because it appears in the WEAC newsletter does not make it so.
Walker opted to reduce the take home for public employees instead of raising taxes. He opted to offer tax breaks to spur job growth. Nobody is saying that WIsconsin is firing on all cylinders, but other than giving public employees more $$$ what is your suggestion for creating private sector jobs that Walker has ignored?
To the first anonymous commenter who apparently reads the blog selectively:
I answered your question in a post 2 1/2 months ago...
http://playgroundpolitics.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-not-working.html
Walker's ideas were good economic policy the economy would not only be growing, but growing dramatically? The Doyle administration just like Illinois-raised more taxes on more well off individuals, made some program cuts and refinanced some debt. Wisconsin's economy was growing for the last months of the Doyle administration and up until the state budget passed taking 8.5% from thousands of teachers, garbage men and social workers. Walker returned property tax relief of $10 per person as a trade off for 25,000 less net jobs in the state. The projected budget surplus of $300 million that was a hallmark of "the reforms" is now a over $158 million deficit and growing. Socially engineering, smacking the opposite party into permanent minority status and passing whole lot of abortion restrictions may be great, however when voters wanted job creation and you are losing more than any state in the nation that is a big problem. Walker's inability to work with anyone that he disagrees with on any issue, his complete lack of innovation & creativity in public policy issues and the constant, repeated and never ending corruption that seems to follow him around like the fog only make the voters choice easier.
Who would have bet money that Walker, a back bencher, college drop out with zero ideas would be a GOP rock star and Jensen, the Harvard grad guy with the huge bright future and a 1000 ideas would a no body, unable to run for office in 1994? It's Back to the Future II playing in Wisconsin.
I keep hearing how Walker cut everyone's property taxes. Mine went up a couple of hundred bucks like they do every year.
Isn't this just the same old science vs. religious / ideology argument? Republicans refused to do an actuarial study to the impact of the changes to the Wisconsin Retirement System, a leading UW economist predicted 21,000 jobs would be lost because of the changes and Republican's own Senator Randy Hooper said on Wisconsin Public Radio that the impact to the changes on the economics would take YEARS to work out positively. The Republicans counter argument is repeated surveys of Republicans business owners who like the Republican Governor saying they are going to hire, but apparent forget to and the constant lame marketing whine of it's working!, which praise all these budget cuts. A car dealership closes in suburban Milwaukee-it's working! No demand by small businesses to grow their businesses by getting a loan-it's working! It is amazing how bad this Governor is at running the state as a ideologically theocracy with no interest in fixing the huge long term problems that he has created.
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