Month of losses sets the state back to March levels

We"re back to March.

That"s the bottom line when it comes to the latest jobs report issued by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The October report, issued Nov. 17, 2011, said there were 2,337,300 private sector jobs in the state, a decline of 9,300 from the previous month. It was the fourth consecutive monthly decline in the number of private sector jobs.

Records show the number is close to that of March of 2011 when the state had 2,339,100 jobs.

That"s a discouraging trend, especially for Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who"s top campaign promise was that the state would have 250,000 more private sector jobs at the end of his four year term.

In October, the state Department of Revenue issued a report that predicted job creation will fall far short of the governor"s promise. That report projected the state will have added 136,000 jobs by the end of 2014, a little more than half of what Walker promised.

The latest monthly snapshot shows that there have been 20,100 net new jobs added since Walker took office in January 2011. That leaves Walker with 229,900 jobs to go.

This promise remains In the Works.