Today had the Bureau of Labor Statistics release of the June jobs numbers for all 50 states, and not surprisingly, Wisconsin continued to lag its neighbors in the first half of 2015 after its brutal performance. Here's how the numbers break down for the year-to-date.

Private sector job growth, Dec 2014- June 2015

Mich 1.82% (+66,000)

Minn +0.99% (+23,900)

Ind. +0.94%(+24,400)

Iowa +0.88% (+11,500)

Ohio +0.66% (+30,400)

Wis. +0.39% (+9,500)

Ill. +0.38% (+19,100)

No state added fewer private sector jobs than Wisconsin, and only the dysfunctional train wreck in Illinois kept Wisconsin from being dead last in rate of growth (even then, just barely). And because the FIBs had outgrown us in the previous 4 years (as measured by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages), this means Wisconsin stays dead last in the Midwest in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan.



And if you want a perspective with how far behind Wisconsin has been compared to the rest of the nation, take a look at what I call the Walker jobs gap, which has now reached over 96,000. Especially notice the decline in Wisconsin after February of this year- the same month Walker struck a pose for GOP primary voters in the form of the State Budget.

Somehow, I'm thinking these charts won't be shown in Scott Walker's campaign speeches. But it might be a part of John Kasich's.... or any Dem that would compare the success of blue Minnesota with the disaster in Fitzwalkerstan.