State Lost 12,500 Private-Sector Jobs Last Month

Wisconsin lost 12,500 jobs in the month of July, reported the Department of Workforce Development.

Gov. Scott Walker's administration attributes the decrease to the state of the national economy.

“Wisconsin is not immune to the national economic slowdown this summer, and we are seeing the effects of the national economy in our July numbers,” said DWD Secretary Scott Baumbach. “The wild market fluctuations during the debt ceiling negotiations, the European debt crisis and other factors contributed to a great deal of uncertainty, which may very well have affected Wisconsin’s job numbers given our state’s ties to the national economy.

"Even so, Wisconsin is experiencing a manufacturing-led recovery, with a net growth of 15,000 manufacturing jobs this year, representing more than half of the net 28,700 new jobs created in the private sector.”

Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted July unemployment rate was 7.8 percent, up slightly from 7.6 percent in June, but down from 8.2 percent in July 2010. 

Wisconsin is still below the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.1 percent.