Two batches of not-so-good news

The latest job counts released by the state Department of Workforce Development contained  long- and short-term results for measuring Gov. Scott Walker's top campaign promise.

Neither was good news.

In 2010, Walker promised voters that he would create 250,000 private sector jobs by the end of his four-year term. Here are details of the latest tabulations:

On May 16, 2013, the state released the final 2012 job count based on the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, a survey that covers about 97 percent of state businesses. Although it has a six month lag, it's considered the most accurate measure of employment.

The report said the state created 32,373 private sector jobs in 2012. That figure will be vetted by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and formally released in June, but is not expected to change much.

Add the 2012 jobs to the 29,800 jobs created in 2011, and you get 62,072 jobs for Walker's first two years in office. That's just under 25 percent of the number he promised, though he's more than halfway through the term.

The state also released the less accurate but closely watched monthly jobs count for April.  That report showed a loss of 22,600 jobs -- the single largest monthly swing, positive or negative, since Walker took office in January 2011.

The state report also revised the March 2013 count from a loss of 1,100 jobs to a gain of 100.

Here's a link to our graphic tracking the governor's promise, updated with the April results. It shows that the state has created about 44,200 private sector jobs since the governor took office.

(As we did last year, we'll update the graphic's final total for 2012 when the BLS issues the final, more accurate, job count for 2012.)

For now, we'll keep this promise at In the Works.