On the plus side for August, still down 500 for the year

Wisconsin added 4,300 private sector jobs in August 2012, according to a preliminary report issued Sept. 20, 2012 by the state Department of Workforce Development.

Combined with the monthly figures released for the previous seven months of 2012, the state recorded an estimated net loss of 500 jobs for this year, according to state jobs data.
   
That jobs count is based upon the monthly Current Employment Survey in which information from about 3 percent of state employers is extrapolated to apply to all state workplaces. It's subject to revisions and is less accurate than the quarterly census of employers, which involves a survey of more than 90 percent of state businesses.

The monthly data is routinely used by the media and politicians as the most up-to-date snapshot. We're using it to help make an on-going measurement of Gov. Scott Walker's top 2010 campaign promise -- that the state would create 250,000 private sector jobs by the end of his four-year term.

The census numbers showed 27,811 jobs created in Wisconsin for all of 2011. That number is, in effect, in the books. But those numbers lag by six months, so the monthly numbers are the most up to date picture of where things stand this year.

The monthly survey shows 500 fewer jobs in August than when 2012 began. That puts the rough total of jobs created since Walker took office at 27,311. That leaves about 222,689 jobs to go, with a little more than two years left in his term.

You can see our graphic tracking Walker's jobs promise here.

This promise remains In the Works.