May jobs report fails to inspire

Gains in May come primarily from public sector

File this month's jobs report under "at least we're moving forward" (even if it's at a snail's pace).

May's jobs report (PDF) shows that Wisconsin gained jobs during that month, and revised numbers from April also show some gains as well. Unfortunately, those gains are barely worth taking note of, and in the end the state's unemployment rate went up by a tenth of a percent.

From April to May, Wisconsin gained 2,600 jobs. Those gains represent about 0.095 percent of the total number the state now currently has, barely a significant gain. In total, Wisconsin has about 2,736,300 jobs -- about 4,300 jobs LESS than what we had when Walker assumed office.

When you look at private sector job growth, May's report sounds even worse. Wisconsin only gained 900 private sector jobs from April to May. Walker needs significantly more than that to reach his jobs pledge of 250,000 jobs before his first term ends.

In fact, since Walker became governor, there has only been a net gain of 6,800 private sector jobs.

Consider the governor's record thus far. In 18 months, he's had a net gain of 6,800 jobs, less than 378 private sector jobs created per month on average. From the start, to create 250,000 jobs in four years, Walker originally needed more than 5,208 jobs per month.

Now, Walker needs 243,200 more jobs in 30 months' time -- or roughly 8,107 jobs per month from this point on.

When you look at jobs from this standard, it's clear that Walker has failed. But even by his own standards, the governor's record on job creation is still dismal.

No matter how you look at it, the reforms Scott Walker continuously touts as "working" are, in reality, failing our state.