If Wisconsin were merely following the national trend of job growth since Walker started in January 2011, we'd have 66,000 more jobs now than we actually do (the disparity rising from 64,000 last month):
(Same conclusion represented
as a bar chart).
All charts created by RandomNonviolence.
That is to say, Walker's economic management of Wisconsin falls that far from being merely average and unexceptional. These are the last figures that will be released before the recall election on June 5th.
Much more after the cheese doodle...
The sources (listed on the image) are on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website; the National series and Wisconsin series for the total nonfarm payroll number from the Current Employment Survey.
Walker's campaign promise was that he would create 250,000 jobs. While he didn't qualify that at the time, after the November 2010 election he has couched it as 250,000 private sector jobs by 2015. So granting the qualification that requires 5,200 more private sector jobs each month, every month from January 2011 to January 2015. Let's see how he's doing:
Even worse.
So Wisconsin has lost 4,700 private sector jobs under Walker and needs to change direction pretty radically to add 7,700 every month from now on to get to where he promised to take us, a change of direction that Walker is determined not to make.
Well, perhaps this is a regional phenomenon? After all, different regions of the country have historically entered and left recessions at different times. So let's have a look at how Walker's Wisconsin is doing relative to some of our neighbors and other Great Lakes states:
(Same conclusion as a bar chart).
In absolute numbers:
So while only Indiana in the region outpaces national job growth rates, there aren't any excuses to be found in the regional figures for Walker.
Last week Walker pre-empted the Thursday release of the April figures with unaudited, unverifiable and in any case lackluster claims of job creation. Demanding extra credit for being at the top of the class because he handed his assignment in early is a sorry excuse for pathetic performance, even by Walker's standards.
Donation links:
Tom Barrett via Daily Kos Wisconsin ActBlue (make sure you scroll down and distribute between Barrett and Daily Kos as you see fit).
Mahlon Mitchell who is up against Lieutenant-Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.
Lori Compas who is up against Senator Scott Fitzgerald in SD13.
John Lehman who is up against Senator Van Wanggaard in SD21.
Kristen Dexter who is up against Senator Terry Moulton in SD23.
Donna Seidel who is up against Jerry Petrowski in SD29 after incumbent Pam Galloway resigned.
If you can't decide, there's the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
If you need the above links for your own diary or comment, here's the code to copy and paste:
<p class="divider-doodle"></p>
Donation links:
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/page/dailykoswisconsin">Tom Barrett via Daily Kos Wisconsin ActBlue</a> (make sure you scroll down and distribute between Barrett and Daily Kos as you see fit).
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/29356">Mahlon Mitchell</a> who is up against Lieutenant-Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser/29087">Lori Compas</a> who is up against Senator Scott Fitzgerald in SD13.
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser/28834">John Lehman</a> who is up against Senator Van Wanggaard in SD21.
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser/28833">Kristen Dexter</a> who is up against Senator Terry Moulton in SD23.
<a href="https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraiser/28835">Donna Seidel</a> who is up against Jerry Petrowski in SD29 after incumbent Pam Galloway resigned.
If you can't decide, there's the <a href="https://secure.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/26821">Democratic Party of Wisconsin</a>.