Wisconsin Employment Changes

The federal office that is known for tracking employment information for each of the states is thinking about changing the way in which is comes up with the employment estimates for each month. The reason behind the consideration of changing the original method of handling such estimates was because the Governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, criticized the way that the federal office currently works on tracking employment numbers for each month. Walker believed that the monthly data on employment, which is provided by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, is not nearly as reliable when it comes to showing the amount of jobs that have actually been created and it caused a huge problem during his recall election which took place during the spring months.

Governor Walker received some criticism because he released the figures before the Bureau of Labor Statistics actually show their employment numbers, which would show that the employment picture was actually better than it was once reported during 2011. The Secretary for the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Reggie Newson, sent a request to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and asked them to change the way that they work on coming up with monthly data for the number of individuals employed per month, hoping that the quarterly information would actually be included in the number provided to the general public.

Newson sent out a response letter earlier on in the week to the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics Acting, John Galvin, who said that the agency would be working on strategies for changing the research performed and the information provided on employment. Gavin also pointed out that at this point, there is still a lot of research taking place and that it may take a few weeks before a decision is finally made. Newson said that they are encouraging these changes to finally take place as they believe it will be the best way for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to provide the most accurate and reliable results on employment figures and numbers which will not just help job seekers but will also help the employers as well.

Walker has, for quite some time, criticized the figures provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stating that their monthly figures were often way different than the quarterly data that was provided, which has caused confusion for many residents and for those who simply follow these numbers and want to know how many people are becoming employed and which employers are looking for workers. Walker believes that it is absolutely necessary for changes to be made in order for the figures to be completely accurate.