Final Numbers Show Gov. Walker Fell Nearly 50 Percent Short on First Term Jobs Promise

MADISON, Wis. — The final jobs numbers from the federal government covering the first term of Gov. Scott Walker released today confirm the utter failure of his administration to deliver on his job creation promise.

According to what Walker himself has referred to as the “gold standard” of job statistics, he came up nearly 50 percent short on his 2010 campaign promise to create 250,000 jobs in his first term. Statistics released by the federal government today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, show the state gained merely 129,131 jobs.

Walker’s dramatic failure on job creation comes as new questions and calls for investigation of the centerpiece of Walker’s economic agenda, the privatized Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation of which he is the board chair, are mounting.

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross:

“The cronyism, corruption and incompetence of Gov. Walker have utterly failed Wisconsin.

“Gov. Walker had complete partisan control of state government for four years, and with the final numbers in, we see he failed completely to meet his promise on job creation, falling nearly 50 percent short.

“His reckless tax giveaways to the wealthy and corporations, bad choices to slash public education by record amounts and callous indifference to burgeoning economic issues like the student loan debt crisis have left us lagging the nation and our neighbor states on jobs and wages.

“Gov. Walker boasts he’s been ‘big and bold’, but the facts show he’s been corrupt and ineffective.”