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Title: Wisconsin Loses 12,500 Private-Sector Jobs In July
Source:
Journal Sentinel
URL Source: http://www.jsonline.com/business/128016853.html
Published: Aug 20, 2011
Author: John Schmid
Post Date: 2011-08-20 13:06:44 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 977
Comments: 2
Wisconsin lost 12,500 private-sector jobs last month in the deepest single-month decline since the depths of the 2008-'09 recession, effectively annulling most of the previous month's gains. Gov. Scott Walker, who last month credited his administration's business-friendly policies for big job gains in June, attributed the July job losses to turmoil in the national and international economy as well as to uncertainty created by the state's special recall elections. Asked whether he should be held accountable for July's decline as long as he also wants credit for June's gain, Walker responded by describing what he called "incredible uncertainty both at the federal level - in terms of the debt ceiling and all the tension of that, and the negative impact that had on the economy - combined with July and August, when you saw the height of the recall commercials. And I think for a lot of employers we talked to, that created a high level of uncertainty, not knowing what was going to come next." Walker spoke in Waukesha on Thursday at Weldall Manufacturing Inc., which received state and local incentives to boost investment and expansion in the metals fabricator. Weldall, which had 110 employees as of Sept. 10, today has 239, with plans to hire another 40 or 50. "In the first six months, the policies we put in place helped create certainty in the state," Walker said. According to the latest data from the state Department of Workforce Development, the state's unemployment rate rose to 7.8% in July from 7.6% in June, even as the national unemployment rate improved to 9.1% from 9.2%. The loss of 12,500 private-sector jobs last month represented the biggest decline since April 2009, when the state lost 22,900 jobs in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage meltdown and the collapse of Wall Street financial institutions. The July decrease also offset most of the state's gains from June, which were revised Thursday to a net increase of 14,800 jobs - up from the preliminary gain of 12,900 that was reported last month. "Wisconsin is not immune to the national economic slowdown this summer, and we are seeing the effects of the national economy in our July numbers," said Scott Baumbach, secretary of the Department of Workforce Development. "The wild market fluctuations during the debt ceiling negotiations, the European debt crisis and other factors contributed to a great deal of uncertainty, which may very well have affected Wisconsin's job numbers given our state's ties to the national economy." Virtually every sector of the state, from professional services and construction to health care and tourism, lost ground in July, although the heaviest losses were in the service industries. Durable goods manufacturing added 2,000 net new jobs in July even as non-durable manufacturing lost 2,100. Each month's state figures are based on relatively small government sample sizes and amount to estimates. They are also preliminary and prone to revision. Additionally, the figures are seasonally adjusted to smooth out annually expected shifts related to weather, tourism and school holidays. Government jobs continued to gyrate in July, as they have throughout the recovery. According to Thursday's data, public authorities at the municipal and county level added 4,100 jobs in the month, a figure that overshoots in an unrealistic extrapolation because many public schools and cities have been slashing budgets, economists said. Many analysts argue that the monthly jigs and jags in government employment reflect the distortions and statistical "noise" that always are inherent in the monthly jobs report. "I don't put much stock in these numbers. They are subject to revision and those revisions can be extreme," said Brian Jacobsen, a Milwaukee-area economist at Wells Fargo Bank. With or without statistical distortions, July's report shows that job creation remains stunted two years into what counts as a recovery. And few doubt that the national and international economies have cooled. The stock market fell sharply Thursday in another reminder that the nation continues to feel the aftershocks of the recession. Europe is in the throes of its own debt crisis. China, which has been a global growth engine, is slowing. Thursday's state jobs report also shows that many unemployed Wisconsinites have given up looking for work, which statistically removes them from the category of "unemployed," said John Heywood, a professor of labor economics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "These discouraged workers do not show up in the unemployment rate but have been a fixture in both the state and the nation," Heywood said. One month ago, when Walker announced the increase in private-sector job gains for June, he took credit for shifting the tone of the state's economic debate and creating an economic climate conducive to investment and employment. "For a new governor eager to show his policies are working, cheerleading in this economy can easily backfire," said Andy Feldman, director of Madison-based BadgerStat.org, which collects and analyzes state economic metrics. "One month there's good news, but the next month may be bad news. The reality is that the economic forces at play are much bigger than Walker or even Wisconsin itself."
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
I wish reporters spent less time keeping political score and more time explaining the factual details of these stories. It seems very strange to me that a month of record private sector job gains would be immeidately followed by a month of record private sector job losses. Is this an indication of a rotation out of jobs in one sector and into jobs in another, or were the newly added jobs terminated when employers got cold feet? Overall the private sector added 150K jobs in July, so the loss of so many jobs in Wisconsin needs a closer examination.
Since Walker had made a great show of refusing Federal funds as well as his alleged "pro-business/good for WI" policies, there is no reason for him to cite the national economy.
America...My Kind Of Place... "I truly am not that concerned about [bin Laden]..." "THE MILITIA IS COMING!!! THE MILITIA IS COMING!!!" I lurk to see if someone other than Myst or Pookie posts anything...
#2. To: Brian S (#0)
--GW Bush
--Sarah Palin's version of "The Midnight Ride of Paul revere"
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