In response to the launch today of Scott Walker’s work of fiction, “Unintimidated,” Wisconsin Democrats are releasing a series of facts you won’t find in Scott Walker’s dishonest tome.
Scott Walker’s most glaring omission is his failure to mention his central campaign promise to create 250,000 new private sector jobs.
The most current and accurate federal jobs data available shows that Walker is on pace to get about halfway there. Walker’s policies have largely inhibited jobs growth, causing Wisconsin to fall behind the national economic recovery and trail our neighbors in the Midwest and earning Walker a 40th out of 45 ranking among governors when it comes to job growth.
At the same time, Scott Walker’s flagship jobs agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), has been plagued with scandal amid reports of bid-rigging and pay-to-play. WEDC has also been the subject of two scathing audits that showed WEDC lacked basic accountability measures to track a single job created, admittedly violated state law, and failed to properly track taxpayer-funded loans.
Jobs/Economy: 250,000 Excuses For Scott Walker’s Jobs Failure
Scott Walker asked voters to judge his term in office on his ability to create a minimum of 250,000 new private sector jobs, and by that measure he has failed.
While the rest of our neighbors in the Midwest and most of the rest of the nation have enjoyed a modest economic recovery, Wisconsin is growing jobs at only about half the national average.
The Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) figures, previously referred to by Scott Walker as the “gold standard of jobs measurement,” show that Wisconsin added 24,305 private sector jobs in the latest 12-month period – the lowest total for that period in the past three years. Wisconsin’s job growth represented a 1.1% increase in total employment, about half the national average rate of growth of 2.0%.
This is the 7th consecutive quarter Wisconsin has been in the bottom half among states in annual private-sector job gains (after 5 consecutive quarters in the top half – before Republicans passed their first budget).
Wisconsin ranks 38th in the nation over the past two years, down from 11th the day Scott Walker took office.
Forbes magazine placed Wisconsin 41st in its 2013 “Best States for Business” rankings, behind states such as Nebraska (6th), Minnesota (8th) and Iowa (12th).
Looking to the future the updated Forbes list also projects Wisconsin will be 45thin the nation in job growth through 2016.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its annual Enterprising States report that shows Wisconsin ranked dead last in short-term job growth and 44th in the nation in overall economic performance. The business advocacy organization’s study measured overall economic performance, analyzing five policy areas including exports and trade, innovation, talent, infrastructure and business climate, as well as the role of state policies and programs in fostering small business growth.
The Chamber’s findings also show Wisconsin ranked 45th in the nation in long-term job growth and 47th in the nation in new business start-ups.
The latest public polling from Marquette University shows that 70 percent of Wisconsinites say their personal financial situation has stayed the same or gotten worse since Scott Walker took office. And 65 percent say they don’t see any economic improvement in the next year.
Scott Walker’s flagship job creation agency, WEDC, lost track of more than $56 million in taxpayer-funded loans while at the same time spending the people’s money on things like alcoholic beverages, Badgers tickets, and iTunes gift cards.
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