Numbers up in January, but revision for 2011 went downward

With the U.S. gaining jobs and Wisconsin losing them in recent months, there has been high anticipation for the monthly jobs reports released by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The department released its latest report on March 8, 2012. It contains preliminary employment figures for January 2012 and revised or "final” figures each month of 2011.

The report shows -- based on preliminary estimates -- the state added 15,700 private-sector jobs in January 2012.

For Walker, that sounds like a nice jump toward reaching his goal of creating 250,000 jobs by the end of his first term.

Unfortunately for the Republican governor, the revisions brought bad news.

When we last updated this item, the state had a net increase of 13,500 private-sector jobs since Walker took office.

But the state not only revised its monthly job figures for 2011 but also for December 2010, which is the starting point for measuring Walker"s jobs promise given that it was the last month before he took office.

The revisions show Wisconsin had more private-sector jobs just before Walker took office and it hasn"t added as many as what the government previously reported.

The bottom line?

Despite the estimated increase of 15,700 private-sector jobs in January 2012, the state has seen a net increase of only 6,000 private-sector jobs under Walker, who set a goal of 250,000 new such jobs in his first four-year term.

(Here is our monthly chart tracking the changes)