38th in the nation in both overall and private sector job growth, next to last in the Midwest (only Iowa was worse). While the 1.51% private sector job growth is the best of Walker’s 4 years in Wisconsin, it’s still barely above the 1.50% that the state achieved in Jim Doyle’s last year in office in 2010. And the U.S. economy in 2014, which saw the best job growth in the 21st Century, was a whole lot better than what the post-recession nation was dealing with four years prior, as U.S. unemployment stayed above 9.0% for all of 2010.
And as you'll see here, that 1.51% is still lower than the rate of job growth we were seeing in early 2011- before Act 10 and Walker's first budget took effect.
32nd in average weekly wage growth for a private sector job, 5th out of 7 Midwestern states. I suppose that’s better than the 42nd place standing we had at the end of the 3rd Quarter, but it’s still nowhere near good enough, and only Iowa and Indiana had lower average weekly wages than Wisconsin.
44th in manufacturing wage growth (also 5th in the Midwest). These average wages only grew by 2.4% in Wisconsin for 2014, and this was before (right-to) work-for-less legislation was passed. And it’s not like workers in manufacturing were pulling down big money to begin with.
Average weekly manufacturing wage, Dec 2014
Ill. $1,329
Mich $1,300
Minn $1,209
Ohio $1,180
Iowa $1,169
Ind. $1,133
Wis. $1,112
Again, this is before work-for-less was passed. These numbers show that Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce were lying when they claimed that Wisconsin had high labor costs that were preventing growth, because Wisconsin workers were already being paid less than their neighbors. Then the corporate dingbats at WMC turn around and whine that they can’t find qualified workers to hire. Maybe you could try PAYING THEM A COMPETITVE WAGE, you dumb fucks!
With the WMC mentality running through the state’s economic policies the last 4 years, is it any surprise that the overall record sucks? This QCEW report allows for a great comparison of the first terms of Scott Walker and several other Midwestern governors that were elected in 2010. As you’ll see, Scotty, and the WMC/ALEC lackeys in the WisGOP legislature are standouts when it comes to job growth…in a very bad way.
Private sector job growth, QCEW Dec 2010 – Dec 2014
Mich 11.41%
Ind. 9.03%
Minn 8.04%
Ohio 7.67%
Iowa 6.50%
Ill. 5.98%
Wis. 5.69%
DEAD FUCKING LAST. Not like we didn’t know this already, but this a new piece of evidence proving these regressive policies in Fitzwalkerstan have not worked and will not work. And it’s up to us to let the rest of the nation know the same thing as Scott Walker goes around the country trying to claim he’s “turned Wisconsin around.” Oh he turned it around alright…from a state with a decent economy and high quality of life, to one that is the worst in the Midwest, with a declining standard of living.
Go ahead Scotty and WisGOP, run on your record in 2016. Especially since we know the stats will likely look even worse after this absurdity of a deficit-ridden austerity budget takes effect (assuming it one day will be passed by the scared and clueless crew occupying our Capitol).
Jake,
ReplyDeleteYes it is a puzzlement how Walker gets away with it. I've become very fatalistic about it however, and now I've come to see that Wisconsin is getting what it wants and I guess what it deserves. Nobody at the leading GOP news outlets (the MJS, the WSJ, and all TV stations in the state) see what is happening so I'll be explicit: the state is beginning to circle the drain, so the politicians are playing to the gerrymandered vote which only pushes it more into the vortex. Populations are declining in a significant number of counties, and a large number are stagnant. All the declining and stagnant counties have one thing in common; the average age is rapidly increasing which means the young are leaving. Some of these young are moving to Dane County, or the Fox River Valley, or the counties nearest the Twin Cities, but large numbers of the best educated and most skilled are leaving the state entirely. All of my own three children (a physician, a financial person, a scientist) have left the state for better opportunities. Those of my family who stayed behind in northern Wisconsin are all working lower paying jobs in heritage industries with declining prospects.
Wisconsin has very little going for it in terms of natural resources or advantages, and its mid-20th century success was built on its position from the enormous industrial boost it received as a secondary war-time manufacturing plant; and its advanced human resources created by an outstanding educational system that was truly phenomenal given the state's constrained resources (remember in the 60s the UW was compared to Stanford, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, UCLA, & MIT). The industrial boost largely disappeared by the mid-1990s, and now we are dismantling the educational system. The state is simply heading back to its 19th century roots modified for 21st century trends--an agrarian state, fortified by seasonal tourist spending, with a manufacturing sector whose competitive strength is below-average compensation. Maybe Dane County can keep its head above water, but the best the other 71 counties can hope for is to be geriatric service centers for their Boomer populations.