Some progress in July, but has the promise become a 'goal'?

Gov. Scott Walker stirred attention Aug. 26, 2013 when asked about his progress toward meeting his top campaign promise -- that the state would add 250,000 private sector jobs by the end of his four-year term.

Since taking office, Walker has offered a number of responses when asked about the numbers.

He celebrated and took credit when the state saw big monthly gains. He criticized data collection methods, the federal government and more when they declined. Last winter, in a claim we rated Pants on Fire, Walker misused the data to inflate the jobs count.

On Aug. 26, 2013, Walker talked about what happened before he took office. And he referred to the promise as a "goal.”

"My goal wasn't so much to hit a magic number as much as it was, in the four years before I took office, when I was campaigning, I saw that we lost over 133,000 jobs in the state. I said, 'It's really not about jobs, it's about real people, real jobs like those here, and more importantly, affecting real families all across the state,'" Walker told reporters.

Some saw the governor's answer as a significant change in his position.

Rhinelander television station WJFW reported on the governor"s comments under an online headline that read: "Walker backs off campaign jobs pledge at Merrill stop.” The comments came during a visit to Northern Wire, a Merrill manufacturer.

The state Democratic Party said the governor's comments indicated he was giving up on the jobs promise, and issued a news release with this headline: "Scott Walker Completely Abandons Central Campaign Promise to Create 250,000 New Jobs.”

We asked Walker's office about the report from Merrill, and whether the governor was backing away from the jobs promise.

"Absolutely not,” spokesman Tom Evenson said in an email. "Gov. Walker has never backed away from that goal.”

Evenson added: "In that story, Governor Walker was providing the context behind the goal.  Governor Walker set the goal because it"s about real people and real families all across Wisconsin.  Governor Walker"s number one priority is helping the people of this state create jobs.”

It's worth noting that in his short statement, Evenson three times refers to his boss's top promise as a "goal.”

As a point of reference, we'll pay a quick visit to the online dictionary:

Goal: "The object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.”

Promise: "A declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.”

So what is the latest on the jobs count?

The latest report from the state Department of Workforce Development said the state added a total of 1,800 private-sector jobs in July. That puts the total number of jobs added since Walker took office at 84,482, or about one-third of the way. You can see our latest graphic tracking the jobs promise here.