Contact:
Ethnie Groves, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2156
State Adds Nearly 68,000 Jobs in Last Year
Governor Jim Doyle announced today that Wisconsin again
leads the Midwest in job growth, according to statistics recently released
by the United States Department of Labor. Wisconsin has led the Upper
Midwest in job growth for eleven straight months.
“Wisconsin continues to lead the way in job creation because
we made economic development our top priority,” Governor Doyle said. “We
have worked hard to strengthen all sectors of our economy, and position
Wisconsin to compete at the high end. Wisconsin will continue to do well if
we focus on what we do best – make the best products found anywhere in the
world with the best trained, best educated workers.”
Since November 2003, Wisconsin has added 67,500 jobs – a 2.4
percent increase and the highest numerical and percentage increase in the
Midwest. Comparatively, Minnesota added 27,000 jobs, Indiana added 16,900
jobs, and Illinois added 12,400 jobs, while Ohio lost 13,400 jobs and
Michigan lost 38,800 jobs. The November 2004 data released by the U.S.
Department of Labor is preliminary and not seasonally adjusted.
Since November 2003, Wisconsin has added 15,900
manufacturing jobs – a 3.2 percent increase over the year.
In his first six months in office, Governor Doyle confronted
a $3.2 billion deficit – the largest fiscal crisis in Wisconsin history –
and kept his promise to balance the budget without raising any taxes. Since
that time, he has focused his energy on putting Wisconsin’s economy on track
to create new jobs through his “Grow Wisconsin” plan. And he has delivered
by signing the vast majority of bills called for under “Grow Wisconsin,”
including legislation to eliminate the tax on creating jobs, the most
aggressive regulatory reform policy in the Midwest, and a measure to expand
access to venture capital.
Not only does Wisconsin lead the Midwest, Wisconsin is sixth
in the nation in adding jobs in the last 12 months. Five states added a
higher percentage of jobs than Wisconsin – Nevada (4.7 percent), Idaho (3.6
percent), Hawaii (3.6 percent), Utah (3.1 percent), and Arizona (3.0
percent).
View the full U.S. Department of Labor report here:
http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/outside.jsp?survey=sm
