Weather hurt, but it didn't make Wisconsin DEAD LAST

This is a follow-up to the brutal jobs numbers from yesterday, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics always follows with the state-by-state numbers the following Friday. And they verify what I suspected would be the case.

In April 2013, nine states had statistically significant over-the-month changes in employment, seven of which were increases. The largest statistically significant job gains occurred in Texas (+33,100) and New York (+25,300). The two statistically significant job decreases occurred in Wisconsin (-24,100) and Minnesota (-11,400) .

Yep, we had the most job losses in the U.S. for April. Pathetic, but it's also noteworthy that Minnesota had the 2nd-most job losses in the country, which could indicate the awful weather played a role in some of these job losses (which really reflect lower-than-normal seasonal hiring). The cold,snowy and rainy months of March and April certainly appear to have dragged down job numbers in much of the Midwest. But Wisconsin still was much worse than all the others

Combined job change, March and April, 2013
Iowa -4,700
Mich -7,200
Ind. -8,100
Ohio -14,100
Minn -14,900
Ill. -18,500
Wis. -31,100

So while weather explains some of the job loss in Wisconsin for April, it doesn't show the whole story, and shouldn't be used as an excuse for lagging every other state in the Midwest. The state-by-state report also shows that it's not a 2-month blip, as Wisconsin is also 50th OF 50 in jobs by both measures over the last 12 months.

Bottom 5, total job change April 2012-April 2013
46. W. Va. +2,200
47. Alaska +300
48. Maine -1,500
49. Wyoming -1,500
50. Wisc. -6,800

Bottom 5, total private sector job change April 2012-April 2013
46. W. Va. +2,800
47. Alaska +1,500
48. Maine +300
49. Wyoming -1,700
50. Wisc. -4,900

Sorry, but the snow wasn't flying in most of these 12 months, and it's not the reason our numbers are so disastrous. There are no excuses to give, other than the fact that this state is being run by a college dropout whose only "economic development" strategy seems to be cutting wages for people who work, and funneling state taxpayer dollars to campaign contributors. So how's that working out for us?