HispanicBusiness

Wisconsin led the nation in the rate of shedding state government jobs in the year ending in June 2011, and Eau Claire County was a major contributor to that job loss, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The report shows state government employment in Wisconsin fell by 10.1 percent, or 7,987 jobs, from June 2010 to June 2011, with Eau Claire County contributing to that total with a loss of 371 state employees.

The only counties that shed more state government jobs during that time period were Dane County, with a loss of 1,558, Milwaukee County with 1,051 and Winnebago County with 994.

The data, considered the most solid available, show that Eau Claire County lost 19.1 percent of its state government jobs by the sixth month of Gov. Scott Walker's term. The county had 1,570 state employees remaining in June.

"It's significant. There's no doubt about it," said Scott Hodek, regional economist for the state Department of Workforce Development, noting that state government jobs represent a major local employment sector.

State Rep. Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, acknowledged the decline in state employment was in large part the result of cuts resulting from the GOP-controlled Legislature balancing the state budget.

Cutting state jobs wasn't the goal, but it was a byproduct of eliminating a $3.6 billion state budget deficit, said Suder, the Assembly's majority leader.

"Our budget was in crisis, and we had to make some tough choices," he said. "We targeted reducing the size and scope of state government, and we're doing that."

Suder stressed that requiring public workers to pay more toward pension and health care benefits helped Wisconsin avoid the massive layoffs that were necessary in some other states.

Instead, many of the state government job losses were the result of not filling vacant positions or not filling positions vacated by retirees, Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said.

The focus of the Legislature and the Walker administration has been on creating private-sector jobs, Suder said, adding, "Creating jobs in the public sector is fine, but it has to make sense and we have to have the money, and right now we just don't have the money."

Werwie also pointed out that the Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Wisconsin ranked 14th by adding 38,238 private sector jobs between June 2010 and June 2011.

Lance Nelson, the former staff representative for AFSCME Wisconsin Council 40's Eau Claire district who now represents northwestern Wisconsin, said it's frustrating to hear Walker and other Republicans talk about public sector jobs as if they aren't important to the economy.

"It's like they don't really count," said Nelson, whose union represents tens of thousands of public workers in Wisconsin. "But those public workers who are out of work are not going to be spending money in the economy just like private sector workers who are out of work."

DWD spokesman John Dipko couldn't provide a breakdown of job losses at the local level but said the largest share of the state government employment loss statewide came from education services, which would include the UW System but not jobs at state technical colleges.

UW-Eau Claire also was unable to immediately provide data on its employment changes Wednesday afternoon, but human resources director Donna Weber indicated the institution had about 70 retirements last year and was trying to get by with fewer employees, although it so far has avoided layoffs. The university employs about 1,300 workers in Eau Claire.

The federal employment report also indicated that Eau Claire County lost 101 federal government jobs, or 21.4 percent, but gained 23 local government workers, or 0.5 percent, in the year ending in June 2011.