State Unemployment Drops Below 7 Percent: Who Deserves Credit (or Blame)?

The state added 15,700 private-sector jobs in January and the unemployment rate declined from 7 percent to 6.9 percent in December, according to a new state Department of Workforce Development report.

“Wisconsin’s preliminary January unemployment rate of 6.9 percent is now the lowest it has been since December of 2008, and it remains well below the national rate,” department Secretary Reggie Newson said in a statement.

State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said she was pleased with the news and the job growth shows Republican reforms are moving the state in the right direction. But, she challenged Democrats over “good paying jobs” lost after the .

“Democrats went out of their way to make it harder for people in those areas to find good paying jobs in the months to come when they rejected the mining compromise,” said Darling who represents much of the North Shore, Menomonee Falls.

State Rep. Sandy Pasch said despite the news that the state added 15,700 private-sector jobs in January, the truth lies in the 12,500 the state has lost since Gov. Scott Walker has taken office.

The Democrat from Whitefish Bay, who also represents Shorewood and Fox Point, released a statement Thursday saying the reports of job growth are promising, but the state has been bleeding jobs at a “profuse rate.”

“Gov. Walker made an iron clad promise to create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin during his first term as governor. In turn, it is quite shocking to note that his promise is behind pace by over 80,000 jobs and that we have actually lost thousands of jobs during his time in office,” Pasch said.