MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - Wisconsin added 7,800 public and private jobs last month – but the state’s unemployment rate still rose by two-tenths of a point.
Workforce development officials said the seasonally-adjusted jobless rate was 7.5 percent in August, up from 7.3 in July. But the new state rate is still below the national unemployment figure of 8.1 percent.
Officials said an estimated 4,300 private sector jobs were added last month, along with 3,500 in the public sector. Those numbers are based on a survey of just 3.5 percent of employers – and they’re subject to heavy revisions.
The revised July figures showed that Wisconsin lost 6,500 jobs. Wisconsin has created about 19,000 jobs since Republican Governor Scott Walker took office in 2011. He has repeatedly promised to create 250,000 jobs by the time his current term ends in January of 2015.
Walker and a host of business experts say job growth has been weak because of the political uncertainty posed by the fall elections.



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